Oxidizing gel formulation for nuclear decontamination: rheological and acidic properties of the organic matrix and its ozonolysis; Formulation d'un gel oxydant a matrice organique applicable a la decontamination nucleaire: proprietes rheologiques, acido-basiques et ozonolyse de la matrice

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rouy, E

2003-10-15

An acidic and oxidizing gel was formulated with a purely organic matrix, xanthan gum, at low concentrations (1 to 2 wt %). This polymer gel was investigated in various media (aqueous, acidic and ceric) by means of rheology: shear thinning behaviour, thixotropy, yield stress... Evidences of unexpected rheological properties in highly concentrated media show that xanthan is quite convenient for industrial projection of this type of gel on metallic walls in nuclear plants, notwithstanding its time-limited resistance to oxidation (about a few hours). Complexation mechanisms between ceric species and polar sites of the polymer led us to characterise acidic properties of our xanthan sample by potentiometric titration and {sup 1}H NMR techniques. The matrix was finally treated by ozonolysis to suppress organic residues, as required to handle nuclear wastes. In acidic medium, ozonolysis of the gel was achieved successfully while in acidic and ceric medium this process showed limited efficiency, needing further investigation to be clarified. (author)

Natural and synthetic antioxidants: Influence on the oxidative stability of biodiesel synthesized from non-edible oil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sarin, Amit [Department of Applied Sciences, Amritsar College of Engineering and Technology, Manawala, Amritsar-143001, Punjab (India); Singh, N.P. [Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar (India); Sarin, Rakesh; Malhotra, R.K. [Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., R and D Centre, Sector-13, Faridabad-121007 (India)

2010-12-15

According to the proposed National Mission on Biodiesel in India, we have undertaken studies on the oxidative stability of biodiesel synthesized from tree borne non-edible oil seeds jatropha. Neat jatropha biodiesel exhibited oxidation stability of 3.95 h and research was conducted to investigate the influence of natural and synthetic antioxidants on the oxidation stability of jatropha methyl ester. Antioxidants namely {alpha}-tocopherol, tert-butylated hydroxytoluene, tert-butylated phenol derivative, octylated butylated diphenyl amine, and tert-butylhydroxquinone were doped to improve the oxidation stability. It was found that both types of antioxidants showed beneficial effects in increasing the oxidation stability of jatropha methyl ester, but comparatively, the synthetic antioxidants were found to be more effective. (author)

Characterization of Thermal Stability of Synthetic and Semi-Synthetic Engine Oils

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anand Kumar Tripathi

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Engine oils undergo oxidative degradation and wears out during service. Hence it is important to characterize ageing of engine oils at different simulated conditions to evaluate the performance of existing oils and also design new formulations. This work focuses on characterizing the thermo-oxidative degradation of synthetic and semi-synthetic engine oils aged at 120, 149 and 200 °C. Apparent activation energy of decomposition of aged oils evaluated using the isoconversional Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose technique was used as a thermal stability marker. The temporal variation of stability at different ageing temperatures was corroborated with kinematic viscosity, oxidation, sulfation and nitration indices, total base number, antiwear additive content and molecular structure of the organic species present in the oils. At the lowest temperature employed, synthetic oil underwent higher rate of oxidation, while semi-synthetic oil was stable for longer time periods. At higher temperatures, the initial rate of change of average apparent activation energy of synthetic oil correlated well with a similar variation in oxidation number. A mixture of long chain linear, branched, and cyclic hydrocarbons were observed when semi-synthetic oil was degraded at higher temperatures.

Pentavalent Uranium Chemistry - Synthetic Pursuit Of A Rare Oxidation State

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Graves, Christopher R [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Kiplinger, Jaqueline L [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2009-01-01

This feature article presents a comprehensive overview of pentavalent uranium systems in non-aqueous solution with a focus on the various synthetic avenues employed to access this unusual and very important oxidation state. Selected characterization data and theoretical aspects are also included. The purpose is to provide a perspective on this rapidly evolving field and identify new possibilities for future developments in pentavalent uranium chemistry.

Separation of thorium from cerium by the ion-exchange sorption method. Pt. 3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sozanski, A.

1981-01-01

The method is described of separation of trace-quantities of thorium from chloride and ceric sulfate solutions. Thorium is sorbed selectively on the ion exchanger chelating Vofatite MC-50. Thorium-free ceric solutions were achieved and after ionite eluation concentrates of oxides were considerably enriched. (author)

Heterogeneous reduction of nitric oxide on synthetic coal chars

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

C. Pevida; A. Arenillas; F. Rubiera; J.J. Pis [Instituto Nacional del Carbon (CSIC), Oviedo (Spain)

2005-12-01

Model compounds, with a controlled heteroatoms content and well-defined functionalities, were used to study the release of nitrogen compounds from char combustion. In the present work, the mechanisms involved in NO-char heterogeneous reduction were studied with a synthetic coal (SC) char as carbon source. Another synthetic char (SN) without any nitrogen in its composition was also employed in these studies. Temperature programmed reduction (TPR) tests with a gas mixture of 400 ppm NO in argon and with isotopically labelled nitric oxide, {sup 15}NO (500 ppm {sup 15}NO in argon), were carried out. The gases produced were quantitatively determined by means of MS and FTIR analysers. Under the conditions of this work the main products of the NO-C reaction were found to be N{sub 2} and CO{sub 2}. The main path of reaction involves the formation of surface nitrogen compounds that afterwards react with nitrogen from the reactive gas to form N{sub 2}. It was observed that fuel-N also participates in the overall heterogeneous reduction reaction, although to a lesser extent.

Mechanism and kinetics of the oxidation of synthetic alpha-NiS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

BOYAN BOYANOV

2008-02-01

Full Text Available The results of an investigation of the mechanism and kinetics of the oxidation process of synthetic a-NiS are presented in this paper. The mechanism of a-NiS oxidation was investigated based on the comparative analysis of DTA–TG–DTG and XRD results, as well as the constructed phase stability diagrams (PSD for the Ni–S–O system. The kinetic investigations of the oxidation process were performed under isothermal conditions (temperature range 823–1073 K. The obtained degrees of desulfurization were used in the calculation process according to the Sharp model and the kinetic parameters, including the activation energies and the rate constants of the characteristic reactions, for the oxidation of a-NiS were determined. These results enabled the formulation of a kinetic equation for the desulfurization process: ‑ln(1−a = k1t = 27.89 exp(–9860/Tt, with an activation energy of 82±4 kJ mol-1, for the first stage of the process and –ln (1 − a = k2t = 1.177 exp(–4810/Tt, with an activation energy of 40±2 kJ mol-1, for the second stage.

Synthetic Control of Kinetic Reaction Pathway and Cationic Ordering in High-Ni Layered Oxide Cathodes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Dawei [Sustainable Energy Technologies Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton NY 11973 USA; Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, State Key Laboratory Physical Chemistry Solid Surfaces, Department of Chemistry, Xiamen University, Xiamen Fujian 361005 China; Kou, Ronghui [X-Ray Science Division, Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne IL 60439 USA; Ren, Yang [X-Ray Science Division, Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne IL 60439 USA; Sun, Cheng-Jun [X-Ray Science Division, Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne IL 60439 USA; Zhao, Hu [Sustainable Energy Technologies Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton NY 11973 USA; Zhang, Ming-Jian [Sustainable Energy Technologies Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton NY 11973 USA; School of Advanced Materials, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen Guangdong 518055 P. R. China; Li, Yan [Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne IL 60439 USA; Huq, Ashifia [Chemical and Engineering Materials Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge TN 37831 USA; Ko, J. Y. Peter [The Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853 USA; Pan, Feng [School of Advanced Materials, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen Guangdong 518055 P. R. China; Sun, Yang-Kook [Department of Energy Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791 South Korea; Yang, Yong [Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, State Key Laboratory Physical Chemistry Solid Surfaces, Department of Chemistry, Xiamen University, Xiamen Fujian 361005 China; Amine, Khalil [Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne IL 60439 USA; Bai, Jianming [National Synchrotron Light Source II, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton NY 11973 USA; Chen, Zonghai [Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne IL 60439 USA; Wang, Feng [Sustainable Energy Technologies Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton NY 11973 USA

2017-08-25

Nickel-rich layered transition metal oxides, LiNi1-x(MnCo)(x)O-2 (1-x >= 0.5), are appealing candidates for cathodes in next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) for electric vehicles and other large-scale applications, due to their high capacity and low cost. However, synthetic control of the structural ordering in such a complex quaternary system has been a great challenge, especially in the presence of high Ni content. Herein, synthesis reactions for preparing layered LiNi0.7Mn0.15Co0.15O2 (NMC71515) by solid-state methods are investigated through a combination of time-resolved in situ high-energy X-ray diffraction and absorption spectroscopy measurements. The real-time observation reveals a strong temperature dependence of the kinetics of cationic ordering in NMC71515 as a result of thermal-driven oxidation of transition metals and lithium/oxygen loss that concomitantly occur during heat treatment. Through synthetic control of the kinetic reaction pathway, a layered NMC71515 with low cationic disordering and a high reversible capacity is prepared in air. The findings may help to pave the way for designing high-Ni layered oxide cathodes for LIBs.

Thermodynamic analysis of synthetic hydrocarbon fuel production in pressurized solid oxide electrolysis cells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sun, Xiufu; Chen, Ming; Jensen, Søren Højgaard

2012-01-01

A promising way to store wind and solar electricity is by electrolysis of H2O and CO2 using solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) to produce synthetic hydrocarbon fuels that can be used in existing fuel infrastructure. Pressurized operation decreases the cell internal resistance and enables...... improved system efficiency, potentially lowering the fuel production cost significantly. In this paper, we present a thermodynamic analysis of synthetic methane and dimethyl ether (DME) production using pressurized SOECs, in order to determine feasible operating conditions for producing the desired......, and outlet gas composition. For methane production, low temperature and high pressure operation could improve the system efficiency, but might lead to a higher capital cost. For DME production, high pressure SOEC operation necessitates higher operating temperature in order to avoid carbon formation at higher...

Isotopic Studies of O-O Bond Formation During Water Oxidation (SISGR)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roth, Justine P. [Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States)

2015-03-03

Isotopic Studies of O-O Bond Formation During Water Oxidation (SISGR) Research during the project period focused primarily on mechanisms of water oxidation by structurally defined transition metal complexes. Competitive oxygen isotope fractionation of water, mediated by oxidized precursors or reduced catalysts together with ceric, Ce(IV), ammonium nitrate in aqueous media, afforded oxygen-18 kinetic isotope effects (O-18 KIEs). Measurement, calculation, and interpretation of O-18 KIEs, described in the accompanying report has important ramifications for the production of electricity and solar hydrogen (as fuel). The catalysis division of BES has acknowledged that understanding mechanisms of transition metal catalyzed water oxidation has major ramifications, potentially leading to transformation of the global economy and natural environment in years to come. Yet, because of program restructuring and decreased availability of funds, it was recommended that the Solar Photochemistry sub-division of BES would be a more appropriate parent program for support of continued research.

Commissioning dosimetry and in situ dose mapping of a semi-industrial Cobalt-60 gamma-irradiation facility using Fricke and Ceric-cerous dosimetry system and comparison with Monte Carlo simulation data

Science.gov (United States)

Mortuza, Md Firoz; Lepore, Luigi; Khedkar, Kalpana; Thangam, Saravanan; Nahar, Arifatun; Jamil, Hossen Mohammad; Bandi, Laxminarayan; Alam, Md Khorshed

2018-03-01

Characterization of a 90 kCi (3330 TBq), semi-industrial, cobalt-60 gamma irradiator was performed by commissioning dosimetry and in-situ dose mapping experiments with Ceric-cerous and Fricke dosimetry systems. Commissioning dosimetry was carried out to determine dose distribution pattern of absorbed dose in the irradiation cell and products. To determine maximum and minimum absorbed dose, overdose ratio and dwell time of the tote boxes, homogeneous dummy product (rice husk) with a bulk density of 0.13 g/cm3 were used in the box positions of irradiation chamber. The regions of minimum absorbed dose of the tote boxes were observed in the lower zones of middle plane and maximum absorbed doses were found in the middle position of front plane. Moreover, as a part of dose mapping, dose rates in the wall positions and some selective strategic positions were also measured to carry out multiple irradiation program simultaneously, especially for low dose research irradiation program. In most of the cases, Monte Carlo simulation data, using Monte Carlo N-Particle eXtended code version MCNPX 2.7., were found to be in congruence with experimental values obtained from Ceric-cerous and Fricke dosimetry; however, in close proximity positions from the source, the dose rate variation between chemical dosimetry and MCNP was higher than distant positions.

CYP3A4 Mediates Oxidative Metabolism of the Synthetic Cannabinoid AKB-48.

Science.gov (United States)

Holm, Niels Bjerre; Nielsen, Line Marie; Linnet, Kristian

2015-09-01

Synthetic cannabinoid designer drugs have emerged as drugs of abuse during the last decade, and acute intoxication cases are documented in the scientific literature. Synthetic cannabinoids are extensively metabolized, but our knowledge of the involved enzymes is limited. Here, we investigated the metabolism of N-(1-adamantyl)-1-pentyl-1H-indazole-3-carboxamide (AKB-48), a compound identified in herbal blends from 2012 and onwards. We screened for metabolite formation using a panel of nine recombinant cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes (CYP1A2, 2B6, 2C8, 2C9, 2C18, 2C19, 2D6, 2E1, and 3A4) and compared the formed metabolites to human liver microsomal (HLM) incubations with specific inhibitors against CYP2D6, 2C19, and 3A4, respectively. The data reported here demonstrate CYP3A4 to be the major CYP enzyme responsible for the oxidative metabolism of AKB-48, preferentially performing the oxidation on the adamantyl moiety. Genetic polymorphisms are likely not important with regard to toxicity given the major involvement of CYP3A4. Adverse drug-drug interactions (DDIs) could potentially occur in cases with co-intake of strong CYP3A4 inhibitors, e.g., HIV antivirals and azole antifungal agents.

Hydrogen and synthetic fuel production using pressurized solid oxide electrolysis cells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Søren Højgaard; Sun, Xiufu; Ebbesen, Sune

2010-01-01

Wind and solar power is troubled by large fluctuations in delivery due to changing weather. The surplus electricity can be used in a Solid Oxide Electrolyzer Cell (SOEC) to split CO2 + H2O into CO + H2 (+O2). The synthesis gas (CO + H2) can subsequently be catalyzed into various types of synthetic...... fuels using a suitable catalyst. As the catalyst operates at elevated pressure the fuel production system can be simplified by operating the SOEC at elevated pressure. Here we present the results of a cell test with pressures ranging from 0.4 bar to 10 bar. The cell was tested both as an SOEC...

Untitled

African Journals Online (AJOL)

of titanium(IV) oxide pigments, from sulphuric acid leach liquor of ilmenite, was ... In the production of titanium(IV) Oxide pigment by the “sulphate" process, ilmenite i ... Oxide, ceric salts, permanganate, or electrolytically at a P50 anode.

Study on recovering directly the commercial cerium oxide and total of residue rare earths from Dongpao bastnasite concentrate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nguyen Trong Hung; Nguyen Thanh Chung; Luu Xuan Dinh

2003-01-01

A technology for decomposition roasting and sequential leaching processes of Dong Pao bastnasite concentrate to recover directly commercial cerium oxide and total of residue rare earth elements from the leaching solution of the roasted product have been investigated. The bastnasite concentrate is initially roasted at temperature range of 600 - 650 degC and for time of 4 hrs in order to decompose and convert the hardly soluble carbonate forms of ore into easily soluble oxide. The roasted solid is then leached with sulfuric acid solution of 6N at 60 degC for 4 hrs to convert rare earths in oxide and fluoride form into rare earth sulfate. The recovery yield of rare earths of these stages is more than 95%. The attention has especially been paid on recovering directly the commercial cerium oxide and total of residue rare earth element from the above leaching solution. Complex ions of CeSO 4 2+ , Ce(SO 4 ) 2 , Ce(SO 4 ) 3 2- and Ce(SO 4 ) 4 4- exist in aqueous solution of cerium (IV) sulfate. Based on the property, the method of ion - sieve with DOWEX cation resin column has been applied to estimating separation of the ceric complex anions from Ln(III). The survey showed that most of the ceric complex anions are separated from total of residue rare earths. The latter which are absorbed in the cation column are recovered by elution of HCl of 4N. The recovery yield of cerium can only be reached 20% but the purity of that is very high, can be reached 99.6%. About 5 kg of CeO 2 of high grade and 5 kg of TREO of commercial specification have been produced. (author)

Metabolic engineering of β-oxidation in Penicillium chrysogenum for improved semi-synthetic cephalosporin biosynthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Veiga, Tânia; Gombert, Andreas K; Landes, Nils; Verhoeven, Maarten D; Kiel, Jan A K W; Krikken, Arjen M; Nijland, Jeroen G; Touw, Hesselien; Luttik, Marijke A H; van der Toorn, John C; Driessen, Arnold J M; Bovenberg, Roel A L; van den Berg, Marco A; van der Klei, Ida J; Pronk, Jack T; Daran, Jean-Marc

2012-07-01

Industrial production of semi-synthetic cephalosporins by Penicillium chrysogenum requires supplementation of the growth media with the side-chain precursor adipic acid. In glucose-limited chemostat cultures of P. chrysogenum, up to 88% of the consumed adipic acid was not recovered in cephalosporin-related products, but used as an additional carbon and energy source for growth. This low efficiency of side-chain precursor incorporation provides an economic incentive for studying and engineering the metabolism of adipic acid in P. chrysogenum. Chemostat-based transcriptome analysis in the presence and absence of adipic acid confirmed that adipic acid metabolism in this fungus occurs via β-oxidation. A set of 52 adipate-responsive genes included six putative genes for acyl-CoA oxidases and dehydrogenases, enzymes responsible for the first step of β-oxidation. Subcellular localization of the differentially expressed acyl-CoA oxidases and dehydrogenases revealed that the oxidases were exclusively targeted to peroxisomes, while the dehydrogenases were found either in peroxisomes or in mitochondria. Deletion of the genes encoding the peroxisomal acyl-CoA oxidase Pc20g01800 and the mitochondrial acyl-CoA dehydrogenase Pc20g07920 resulted in a 1.6- and 3.7-fold increase in the production of the semi-synthetic cephalosporin intermediate adipoyl-6-APA, respectively. The deletion strains also showed reduced adipate consumption compared to the reference strain, indicating that engineering of the first step of β-oxidation successfully redirected a larger fraction of adipic acid towards cephalosporin biosynthesis. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Photocatalytic Role of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles on Synthetic Activated Carbon to Remove Antibiotic from Aquatic Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Reza Samarghandi

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Background & Aims of the Study: The presence of antibiotics in the environment, especially in aquatic environments is a major concern for health and the environment. The advanced oxidation process due to the ease of use, economical advantages and high performance have attracted a lot of attention. The purpose of this study was Evaluating of the photocatalytic role of zinc oxide on synthetic activated carbon to remove antibiotic from aquatic environment. Materials & Methods: This experimental study was done in batch reactor that has a 1 L volume. In this study effect of parameters such as initial pH (3-9, initial concentration of cefazolin (20-200 mg/L, modified photocatalyst concentration (20-100 mg/L and reaction time (10-60 min was investigated. In this study a low-pressure mercury lamp with the power of 55 watts in stainless case has been used. The cefazolin concentrations in different steps were measured using UV-Vis spectrophotometer in Wavelength of 262 nm. Results: The results showed that the highest removal efficiency (96% of cefazolin was at the pH=3, 0.1 mg/L of modified photocatalyst, retention time of 60 min and cefazolin concentrations of 100 mg/L. In the case of changing any of the above mentioned values, process efficiency was decreased. Conclusion: The results showed that the photocatalytic process of zinc oxide nanoparticles on synthetic activated carbon can be used as an advanced oxidation process to effectively remove pollutants like cefazolin and other similar pollutants.

Nanostructured manganese oxides as highly active water oxidation catalysts: a boost from manganese precursor chemistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Menezes, Prashanth W; Indra, Arindam; Littlewood, Patrick; Schwarze, Michael; Göbel, Caren; Schomäcker, Reinhard; Driess, Matthias

2014-08-01

We present a facile synthesis of bioinspired manganese oxides for chemical and photocatalytic water oxidation, starting from a reliable and versatile manganese(II) oxalate single-source precursor (SSP) accessible through an inverse micellar molecular approach. Strikingly, thermal decomposition of the latter precursor in various environments (air, nitrogen, and vacuum) led to the three different mineral phases of bixbyite (Mn2 O3 ), hausmannite (Mn3 O4 ), and manganosite (MnO). Initial chemical water oxidation experiments using ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN) gave the maximum catalytic activity for Mn2 O3 and MnO whereas Mn3 O4 had a limited activity. The substantial increase in the catalytic activity of MnO in chemical water oxidation was demonstrated by the fact that a phase transformation occurs at the surface from nanocrystalline MnO into an amorphous MnOx (1oxidizing agent. Photocatalytic water oxidation in the presence of [Ru(bpy)3 ](2+) (bpy=2,2'-bipyridine) as a sensitizer and peroxodisulfate as an electron acceptor was carried out for all three manganese oxides including the newly formed amorphous MnOx . Both Mn2 O3 and the amorphous MnOx exhibit tremendous enhancement in oxygen evolution during photocatalysis and are much higher in comparison to so far known bioinspired manganese oxides and calcium-manganese oxides. Also, for the first time, a new approach for the representation of activities of water oxidation catalysts has been proposed by determining the amount of accessible manganese centers. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Cerium oxide for the destruction of chemical warfare agents: A comparison of synthetic routes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Janoš, Pavel, E-mail: pavel.janos@ujep.cz [Faculty of the Environment, University of Jan Evangelista Purkyně, Králova Výšina 7, 400 96 Ústí nad Labem (Czech Republic); Henych, Jiří [Faculty of the Environment, University of Jan Evangelista Purkyně, Králova Výšina 7, 400 96 Ústí nad Labem (Czech Republic); Institute of Inorganic Chemistry AS CR v.v.i., 25068 Řež (Czech Republic); Pelant, Ondřej; Pilařová, Věra; Vrtoch, Luboš [Faculty of the Environment, University of Jan Evangelista Purkyně, Králova Výšina 7, 400 96 Ústí nad Labem (Czech Republic); Kormunda, Martin [Faculty of Sciences, University of Jan Evangelista Purkyně, České Mládeže 8, 400 96 Ústí nad Labem (Czech Republic); Mazanec, Karel [Military Research Institute, Veslařská 230, 637 00 Brno (Czech Republic); and others

2016-03-05

Highlights: • Four synthetic routes were compared to prepare the nanoceria-based reactive sorbents. • The sorbents prepared by homogeneous hydrolysis destroy efficiently the soman and VX nerve agents. • Toxic organophosphates are converted to less-dangerous products completely within a few minutes. • Surface non-stoichiometry and −OH groups promote the destruction by the S{sub N}2 mechanism. - Abstract: Four different synthetic routes were used to prepare active forms of cerium oxide that are capable of destroying toxic organophosphates: a sol–gel process (via a citrate precursor), homogeneous hydrolysis and a precipitation/calcination procedure (via carbonate and oxalate precursors). The samples prepared via homogeneous hydrolysis with urea and the samples prepared via precipitation with ammonium bicarbonate (with subsequent calcination at 500 °C in both cases) exhibited the highest degradation efficiencies towards the extremely dangerous nerve agents soman (O-pinacolyl methylphosphonofluoridate) and VX (O-ethyl S-[2-(diisopropylamino)ethyl] methylphosphonothioate) and the organophosphate pesticide parathion methyl. These samples were able to destroy more than 90% of the toxic compounds in less than 10 min. The high degradation efficiency of cerium oxide is related to its complex surface chemistry (presence of surface −OH groups and surface non-stoichiometry) and to its nanocrystalline nature, which promotes the formation of crystal defects on which the decomposition of organophosphates proceeds through a nucleophilic substitution mechanism that is not dissimilar to the mechanism of enzymatic hydrolysis of organic phosphates by phosphotriesterase.

High-performance liquid chromatography method for the determination of hydrogen peroxide present or released in teeth bleaching kits and hair cosmetic products.

Science.gov (United States)

Gimeno, Pascal; Bousquet, Claudine; Lassu, Nelly; Maggio, Annie-Françoise; Civade, Corinne; Brenier, Charlotte; Lempereur, Laurent

2015-03-25

This manuscript presents an HPLC/UV method for the determination of hydrogen peroxide present or released in teeth bleaching products and hair products. The method is based on an oxidation of triphenylphosphine into triphenylphosphine oxide by hydrogen peroxide. Triphenylphosphine oxide formed is quantified by HPLC/UV. Validation data were obtained using the ISO 12787 standard approach, particularly adapted when it is not possible to make reconstituted sample matrices. For comparative purpose, hydrogen peroxide was also determined using ceric sulfate titrimetry for both types of products. For hair products, a cross validation of both ceric titrimetric method and HPLC/UV method using the cosmetic 82/434/EEC directive (official iodometric titration method) was performed. Results obtained for 6 commercialized teeth whitening products and 5 hair products point out similar hydrogen peroxide contain using either the HPLC/UV method or ceric sulfate titrimetric method. For hair products, results were similar to the hydrogen peroxide content using the cosmetic 82/434/EEC directive method and for the HPLC/UV method, mean recoveries obtained on spiked samples, using the ISO 12787 standard, ranges from 100% to 110% with a RSDhydrogen peroxide contents higher than the regulated limit. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Carbonation of cerium oxychloride

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peterson, E.J.; Onstott, E.I.; Bowman, M.G.

1977-01-01

Cerous carbonates can be used in thermochemical cycles for H production if the resulting ceric oxides can be converted back into cerous carbonates. One way is to reduce and hydrolyze ceric oxide with HCl to produce CeOCl and then to carbonate it. The reaction 3CeOCl + 3CO 2 + 8H 2 O → CeCl 3 (aq) + Ce 2 (CO 3 ) 3 . 8H 2 O was found to occur in aqueous medium if the final CeCl 3 content is low. Carbonation of CeOCl could also be conducted in acetone --H 2 O . CeClCO 3 . 3H 2 O was decomposed and characterized. The reactions which can be used for water splitting are discussed briefly

Sulfidogenic biotreatment of synthetic acid mine drainage and sulfide oxidation in anaerobic baffled reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bekmezci, Ozan K.; Ucar, Deniz [Harran University, Environmental Engineering Department, Osmanbey Campus, 63000 Sanliurfa (Turkey); Kaksonen, Anna H. [CSIRO Land and Water, Underwood Avenue, Floreat, WA 6014 (Australia); Sahinkaya, Erkan, E-mail: erkansahinkaya@yahoo.com [Harran University, Environmental Engineering Department, Osmanbey Campus, 63000 Sanliurfa (Turkey)

2011-05-30

The treatment of synthetic acid mine drainage (AMD) water (pH 3.0-6.5) containing sulfate (3.0-3.5 g L{sup -1}) and various metals (Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, and Zn) was studied in an ethanol-fed sulfate-reducing 4-compartment anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) at 32 {sup o}C. The reactor was operated for 160 days at different chemical oxygen demand (COD)/sulfate ratios, hydraulic retention times (HRT), pH, and metal concentrations to study the robustness of the process. The last compartment of the reactor was aerated at different rates to study the bio-oxidation of sulfide to elemental sulfur. The highest sulfate reduction efficiency (88%) was obtained with a feed sulfate concentration of 3.5 g L{sup -1}, COD/sulfate mass ratio of 0.737, feed pH of 3.0 and HRT of 2 days without aeration in the 4th compartment. The corresponding COD removal efficiency was about 92%. The alkalinity produced in the sulfidogenic ethanol oxidation neutralized the acidic mine water from pH 3.0-4.5 to pH 7.0-8.0. Effluent soluble and total heavy metal concentrations were substantially reduced with removal efficiencies generally higher than 99%, except for Mn (25-77%). Limited aeration in the 4th compartment of ABR promoted incomplete oxidation of sulfide to elemental sulfur rather than complete oxidation to sulfate. Depending on the aeration rate and HRT, 32-74% of produced sulfide was oxidized to elemental sulfur. This study demonstrates that by optimizing operating conditions, sulfate reduction, metal removal, alkalinity generation, and excess sulfide oxidation can be achieved in a single ABR treating AMD.

DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF LOSARTAN POTASSIUM MATRIX TABLETS WITH NATURAL AND SYNTHETIC POLYMERS

OpenAIRE

R. L. C. Sasidhar et al.

2012-01-01

The objective of the study was to formulate controlled release matrix tablets of losartan Potassium by using a combination of hydrophilic synthetic polymer like poly (ethylene oxides) and natural gums like xanthan gum, karaya gum and guar gum. A combination of synthetic hydrophobic polymers like methacrylates with synthetic hydrophilic polymer like poly (ethylene oxide) was also used in the preparation of matrix tablets and evaluated for their influence on controlled drug release. The matrix ...

Developments in Synthetic Application of Selenium(IV Oxide and Organoselenium Compounds as Oxygen Donors and Oxygen-Transfer Agents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacek Młochowski

2015-06-01

Full Text Available A variety of selenium compounds were proven to be useful reagents and catalysts for organic synthesis over the past several decades. The most interesting aspect, which emerged in recent years, concerns application of hydroperoxide/selenium(IV oxide and hydroperoxide/organoselenium catalyst systems, as “green reagents” for the oxidation of different organic functional groups. The topic of oxidations catalyzed by organoselenium derivatives has rapidly expanded in the last fifteen years This paper is devoted to the synthetic applications of the oxidation reactions mediated by selenium compounds such as selenium(IV oxide, areneseleninic acids, their anhydrides, selenides, diselenides, benzisoselenazol-3(2H-ones and other less often used other organoselenium compounds. All these compounds have been successfully applied for various oxidations useful in practical organic syntheses such as epoxidation, 1,2-dihydroxylation, and α-oxyfunctionalization of alkenes, as well as for ring contraction of cycloalkanones, conversion of halomethyl, hydroxymethyl or active methylene groups into formyl groups, oxidation of carbonyl compounds into carboxylic acids and/or lactones, sulfides into sulfoxides, and secondary amines into nitrones and regeneration of parent carbonyl compounds from their azomethine derivatives. Other reactions such as dehydrogenation and aromatization, active carbon-carbon bond cleavage, oxidative amidation, bromolactonization and oxidation of bromide for subsequent reactions with alkenes are also successfully mediated by selenium (IV oxide or organoselenium compounds. The oxidation mechanisms of ionic or free radical character depending on the substrate and oxidant are discussed. Coverage of the literature up to early 2015 is provided. Links have been made to reviews that summarize earlier literature and to the methods of preparation of organoselenium reagents and catalysts.

Effect of oral drenching with zinc oxide or synthetic zeolite A on total blood calcium in dairy cows

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, R. J.; Hansen, T.; Jensen, M. L.

2001-01-01

Danish Holstein dairy cows in late lactation and milked in the morning only were used as a model for dry pregnant cows to determine the effect of oral drenching with zeolite A and zinc oxide, respectively, on total serum calcium. Ten cows were assigned randomly to two groups of five cows each......, given either synthetic zeolite A (group A) or zinc oxide (group B). Blood samples were drawn daily at 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. during the whole experiment, and total serum calcium was determined. Daily fluctuations in blood calcium were recorded, with morning values being consistently lower than evening...... values. Oral drenching with a single dose of zinc oxide of 100 mg/kg of body weight as well as with zeolite in doses of 500 g of zeolite/cow twice a day for 2.5 d was reflected in serum calcium levels. In the group given zeolite A, there was a depression in evening values of total serum calcium although...

Development of transition metal oxide catalysts for treatment of off-gases released during pyrolysis of organic ion exchange resins

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sathi Sasidharan, N.; Deshingkar, D.S.; Wattal, P.K.

2005-08-01

The spent IX resin wastes arising from nuclear power plants have high radiation level due to fission product 137 Cesium and activation product 60 Cobalt. The pyrolysis and oxidative pyrolysis processes have potential to minimize final waste form volumes of these wastes. The major difficulty in deploying these processes for treatment of spent IX resins is release of off-gases containing large quantities of aromatic hydrocarbons, amines, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, carbonyl sulphide etc. As an alternative to high temperature incineration of the pyrolysis off gases, feasibility of using catalytic combustion at moderate temperatures was investigated in the laboratory. Copper chromite, copper oxide-ceric oxide and vanadium pentaoxide catalysts supported on alumina were prepared and tested for oxidation of styrene monomer, toluene, ethyl benzene and trimethyl amine at 22500 hr -1 space velocity and temperature range of 300 to 500 degC. At temperatures over 475 degC, all three catatyst gave oxidation efficiency of over 97% for these compounds over concentration range of few tens of ppm to few thousands ppm. A composite catalyst bed of three catalysts comprising principally of copper chromite is proposed for treatment of IX resin pyrolysis off-gases. (author)

Fluence of dielectric constant (D), (H/sup +/) and (SO/sub 4/sup -2/) on the rate of redox reaction between tris (2,2-bipyridine) iron (II) and ceric sulphate in aqueous sulphuric acid medium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khattak, R.; Naqvi, I.I.; Farrukh, M.A.

2007-01-01

Kinetic of the redox reaction between tris (2,2-bipyridine)iron(II) cation and ceric sulphate has been studied in aqueous sulphuric acid medium. Different methods were employed for the determination of order of reaction. The order of reaction is found to be first with respect to reductant however retarding effect of increasing initial concentration of oxidant is found. Influence of (H/sup +/), (SO/sub 4/sup 2-) and dielectric constant (D) on the rate of redox reaction has also been studied. Increase in (H/sup +/) and dielectric constant of the medium retard the rate while enhancement of the (SO/sub 4/sup 2-/) accelerates the rate first and then the reaction goes towards retardation. Effects of (H/sup +/) and (SO/sub 4/sup 2-/) were studied by using acetic acid-sodium acetate buffer for the first one and varying ionic concentrations of the salt sodium sulphate for the latter one, whereas dielectric constant was varied by using 0%, 10% and 20% ethanol-water mixtures. Results of effects of each one of the factors i.e., H/sup +/, SO/sub 4/sup 2-/ and dielectric constant (D) have been compared and on the basis of these factors, (Ce(SO/sub 4/ )/sub 3/)/sup 2-/ is suggested to be the active species of cerium(IV). However a rate law consistent with the observed kinetic data has also been derived supporting the proposed mechanism. (author)

Nitric oxide reduction over a synthetic coal char

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

C. Pevida; A. Arenillas; F. Rubiera; J.J. Pis [Instituto Nacional del Carbon, CSIC, Oviedo (Spain)

2003-07-01

In the present work, the mechanisms involved in the NO heterogeneous reduction have been investigated. A synthetic coal char was used as the carbon source. This synthetic coal was made from a mixture of model compounds and provides well-known functionalities, including nitrogenated ones, similar to those found in a high volatile bituminous coal. The char was obtained by pyrolysis of the synthetic coal, up to 1123 K, under helium atmosphere in a fixed bed reactor. Char texture and structure were characterised by N{sub 2} and CO{sub 2} adsorption isotherms at 77 and 273 K, respectively, X-ray diffraction, immersion calorimetry in C{sub 6}H{sub 6} and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Temperature programmed reactions (TPR) were carried out in a thermogravimetric analyser using 400 ppm NO diluted in Ar as the reactant gas. The char was heated at 15 K min{sup -1} from room temperature to 1273 K. Gaseous products were simultaneously analysed by mass spectrometry (MS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The influence of nitrogen in the solid phase on the reduction mechanism was evaluated by comparing the results for chars with and without nitrogen in their composition. The results of this preliminary study showed that the presence of nitrogen in the chars composition did not favour the heterogeneous NO reduction. In addition, low temperature NO chemisorption on the carbon surface creates complexes that take an active part in the subsequent reactions with NO. 5 refs., 4 figs., 3 tabs.

Synthetic and natural antioxidants: food quality protectors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valenzuela, A.

1996-06-01

Full Text Available Oxidation of food lipid components, known as oxidative rancidity is one of the major deteriorative and quality-affecting reactions. Oxidative rancidity is initiated by oxygen free-radicals or by the reaction of molecular oxygen with pre-formed organic free-radicals from polyunsaturated fatty acids composing fats and oils. Oxidation may be prevented or delayed by antioxidants, these substances being organic molecules of either synthetic or natural origin which can scavenge the oxygen free-radicals involved in fatty acid oxidation. Synthetic antioxidants are the most popular and widely used antioxidants, however concerns about it safe to both human and animal health is encouraging research on substances from natural origin showing antioxidant properties. Few natural antioxidants have been proved to be effective when compared to synthetic products in the same experimental conditions. This work summarizes the main characteristics of the most important synthetic antioxidants, also discuss the principal characteristics of four natural antioxidants, comparing the advantages and disadvantages of using natural products compared to synthetic ones, and sight the future for natural products with antioxidant activity.

La oxidación de los componentes lípidos de un alimento, conocida como rancidez oxidativa, es una de las reacciones que deteriora y afecta en forma más importante la calidad de un producto. La rancidez oxidativa es iniciada por radicales libres del oxígeno o por el ataque del oxígeno molecular a radicales libres pre-formados en los ácidos grasos poliinsaturados que forman las grasas y aceites. La oxidación puede ser prevenida o retrasada por los antioxidantes, sustancias orgánicas de origen sintético o natural que actúan como atrapadores de los radicales libres del oxígeno involucrados en la oxidación de los ácidos grasos. Los antioxidantes sintéticos son los más populares y ampliamente utilizados, sin embargo existe

Improving the drug delivery characteristics of graphene oxide based polymer nanocomposites through the “one-pot” synthetic approach of single-electron-transfer living radical polymerization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gao, Peng; Liu, Meiying; Tian, Jianwen; Deng, Fengjie [Department of Chemistry, Nanchang University, 999 Xuefu Avenue, Nanchang 330031 (China); Wang, Ke [Department of Chemistry and the Tsinghua Center for Frontier Polymer Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Xu, Dazhuang [Department of Chemistry, Nanchang University, 999 Xuefu Avenue, Nanchang 330031 (China); Liu, Liangji [Affiliated Hospital of Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang 330006 (China); Zhang, Xiaoyong, E-mail: xiaoyongzhang1980@gmail.com [Department of Chemistry, Nanchang University, 999 Xuefu Avenue, Nanchang 330031 (China); Wei, Yen, E-mail: weiyen@tsinghua.edu.cn [Department of Chemistry and the Tsinghua Center for Frontier Polymer Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)

2016-08-15

Graphical abstract: The PEGylated graphene oxides with high water dispersibility, good biocompatibility as well as high drug loading capability were fabricated via “one-pot” SET-LRP. - Highlights: • Surface modification of graphene oxide with polymers. • One-pot single-electron-transfer living radical polymerization. • Improving drug delivery characteristics. • The synthetic approach is rather simple, universal and effective. - Abstract: Graphene oxide (GO) based polymer nanocomposites have attracted extensive research interest recently for their outstanding physicochemical properties and potential applications. However, surface modification of GO with synthetic polymers has demonstrated to be trouble for most polymerization procedures are occurred under non-aqueous solution, which will in turn lead to the restacking of GO. In this work, a facile and efficient “one-pot” strategy has been developed for surface modification of GO with synthetic polymers through single-electron-transfer living radical polymerization (SET-LRP). The GO based polymer nanocomposites were obtained via SET-LRP in aqueous solution using poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PEGMA) as the monomer and 11-bromoundecanoic acid as the initiator, which could be effectively adsorbed on GO through hydrophobic interaction. The successful preparation of GO based polymer nanocomposites was confirmed by a series of characterization techniques such as {sup 1}H nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The resultant products exhibit high water disperisibility, excellent biocompatibility and high efficient drug loading capability, making these PEGylated GO nanocomposites promising candidates for biomedical applications.

Synthetic polymeric substrates as potent pro-oxidant versus anti-oxidant regulators of cytoskeletal remodeling and cell apoptosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Sung, Hak-Joon; Chandra, Prafulla; Treiser, Matthew D; Liu, Er; Iovine, Carmine P; Moghe, Prabhas V; Kohn, Joachim

2009-03-01

The role of reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated cell signal transduction pathways emanating from engineered cell substrates remains unclear. To elucidate the role, polymers derived from the amino acid L-tyrosine were used as synthetic matrix substrates. Variations in their chemical properties were created by co-polymerizing hydrophobic L-tyrosine derivatives with uncharged hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG, Mw = 1,000 Da), and negatively charged desaminotyrosyl-tyrosine (DT). These substrates were characterized for their intrinsic ability to generate ROS, as well as their ability to elicit Saos-2 cell responses in terms of intracellular ROS production, actin remodeling, and apoptosis. PEG-containing substrates induced both exogenous and intracellular ROS production, whereas the charged substrates reduced production of both types, indicating a coupling of exogenous ROS generation and intracellular ROS production. Furthermore, PEG-mediated ROS induction caused nuclear translocation of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and an increase in caspase-3 activity, confirming a link with apoptosis. PEG-rich pro-oxidant substrates caused cytoskeletal actin remodeling through beta-actin cleavage by caspase-3 into fractins. The fractins co-localized to the mitochondria and reduced the mitochondrial membrane potential. The remnant cytosolic beta-actin was polymerized and condensed, events consistent with apoptotic cell shrinkage. The cytoskeletal remodeling was integral to the further augmentation of intracellular ROS production. Conversely, the anti-oxidant DT-containing charged substrates suppressed the entire cascade of apoptotic progression. We demonstrate that ROS activity serves an important role in "outside-in" signaling for cells grown on substrates: the ROS activity couples exogenous stress, driven by substrate composition, to changes in intracellular signaling. This signaling causes cell apoptosis, which is mediated by actin remodeling.

A Comparison of Natural (D-α-tocopherol) and Synthetic (DL-α-tocopherol Acetate) Vitamin E Supplementation on the Growth Performance, Meat Quality and Oxidative Status of Broilers.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, K; Niu, Y; Zheng, X C; Zhang, H; Chen, Y P; Zhang, M; Huang, X X; Zhang, L L; Zhou, Y M; Wang, T

2016-05-01

The present study was conducted to compare the supplementation of natural (D-α-tocopherol) and synthetic (DL-α-tocopherol acetate) vitamin E on the growth performance, meat quality, muscular antioxidant capacity and genes expression related to oxidative status of broilers. A total of 144 1 day-old Arbor Acres broiler chicks were randomly allocated into 3 groups with 6 replicates of 8 birds each. Birds were given a basal diet (control group), and basal diet supplemented with either 20 IU D-α-tocopherol or DL-α-tocopherol acetate for 42 days, respectively. The results indicated that treatments did not alter growth performance of broilers (p>0.05). Compared with the control group, concentration of α-tocopherol in the breast muscle was increased by the supplementation of vitamin E (pnatural vitamin E group (pnatural vitamin E group (pnatural rather than synthetic vitamin E reduced MDA accumulation in the thigh (pnatural nor synthetic vitamin E supplementation altered muscular mRNA abundance of genes related to oxidative stress (p>0.05). It was concluded that vitamin E supplementation, especially the natural vitamin E, can enhance the retention of muscular α-tocopherol, improve meat quality and muscular antioxidant capacity of broilers.

Sulfonamide antibiotic removal and nitrogen recovery from synthetic urine by the combination of rotating advanced oxidation contactor and methylene urea synthesis process

OpenAIRE

Fukahori, S.; Fujiwara, T.; Ito, R.; Funamizu, N.

2015-01-01

The combination of nitrogen recovery and pharmaceutical removal processes for livestock urine treatment were investigated to suppress the discharge of pollutants and recover nitrogen as resources. We combined methylene urea synthesis from urea and adsorption and photocatalytic decomposition of sulfonamide antibiotic using rotating advanced oxidation contactor (RAOC) contained for obtaining both safe fertilizer and reclaimed water. The methylene urea synthesis could recover urea in synthetic u...

Separation of pure Cerium oxides from rare earth compounds. Homogeneous precipitation using Urea-Hydrogen Peroxide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Umeda, K.; Abrao, E.

1975-01-01

The obtainment of ceric oxide (CeO 2 ) of purity higher than 97% by application of homogeneous precipitation technique is described. The selective separation of cerium was reached by hydrolysis of urea in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, using a rare earths concentrate named rare earths chloride, a natural mixture of all lanthanides provenient from the industrialization of monazite. The best conditions for the preparation of CeO 2 of 94% purity are: 35-70g R 2 O 3 /1 and pH2,0 hydrolysis temperature: 88-90 0 C, urea/R 2 O 3 ratio: 4, H 2 O 2 /Ce 2 O 3 ratio: 1,5-5,0 and hydrolysis duration: 4 hours. A leaching procedure of the precipitate with 0,25-0,75M NHO 3 leads to a product of 97-99,5% CeO 2

Natural minerals and synthetic materials for sorption of radioactive anions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kang, Mun Ja; Chun, Kwan Sik; Kim, Seung Soo

1998-07-01

Technetium-99 and iodine-129 are fission products with long half-lives, and exist as highly soluble anionic species. Studies on natural and synthetic materials sorbing TcO{sub 4} and/or I have been performed by several researchers. The application of these materials as an additive in the high-level waste disposal has been considered. The iron- or sulfide-containing minerals such as metal iron, iron powder, stibnite and pyrrhotite show a high capacity for TcO{sub 4} sorption. And the small amounts of activated carbon are reported to have high distribution coefficients recently. In the iodine sorption studies, sulfide-, copper-, lead- or mercury-containing minerals can be a candidate. Pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, Cu{sub 2}S and CuS reveal a high capacity for I sorption. The synthetic materials were found to have high sorption capacity and compensate the defects of natural minerals, which contain hydrous oxides such as zirconium oxide, aluminium oxide and mercarbide. The mercarbide has the high distribution coefficients for the sorption of TcO{sub 4} and I. Recently it was proposed that the synthetic clay, hydrotalcite, could be useful for the fixation of anion. However, to determine the applicability of those natural and synthetic materials as an additive to a buffer or backfill material for sorption of TcO{sub 4} and/or I, the sorption behavior of the anions on those materials under the repository conditions should be identified. (author). 32 refs., 21 tabs., 10 figs

Highly regio- and diastereoselective, acidic clay supported intramolecular nitrile oxide-alkene cycloaddition on D-ribose derived nitriles: an efficient synthetic route to isoxazoline fused five and six membered carbocycles.

Science.gov (United States)

Panda, Amarendra; Das, Sulagna; Pal, Shantanu

2014-10-29

An efficient synthetic route to isoxazoline fused carbocycles from carbohydrate scaffolds that comprise of free hydroxyl group(s) is described with high regio- and stereoselectivity. Montmorillonite K-10/chloramine T oxidation and in situ intramolecular nitrile oxide-alkene cycloaddition (INOC) of D-ribose derived oximes have been developed for the diversity oriented synthesis of isoxazoline fused five and six membered carbocycles. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparison of the antioxidant effects of carnosic acid and synthetic antioxidants on tara seed oil.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhan-Jun; Yang, Feng-Jian; Yang, Lei; Zu, Yuan-Gang

2018-04-04

In the present study, tara seed oil was obtained by supercritical fluid extraction and used to investigate the antioxidant strength of carnosic acid (CA) compared with conventional synthetic antioxidants. The antioxidants were added to the tara seed oil at 0.2 mg of antioxidant per gram of oil. The samples were then submitted to at 60 °C 15 days for an accelerated oxidation process, with samples taken regularly for analysis. After oxidation, the samples were analyzed to determine the peroxide value, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, conjugated diene content, and free fatty acid content. CA was investigated at three purity levels (CA20, CA60, CA99), and compared with three synthetic antioxidants (butylatedhydroxyanisole, butylatedhydroxytoluene, and tert-butylhydroquinone). The oxidation indicators showed that CA was a strong antioxidant compared to the synthetic antioxidants. The antioxidant activities decreased in the order: tert-butylhydroquinone > CA99 > CA60 > CA20 > butylatedhydroxyanisole > butylatedhydroxytoluene. These results show that CA could be used to replace synthetic antioxidants in oil products, and should be safer for human consumption and the environment.

Pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of isolated, synthetic and degraded lignins

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saiz-Jimenez, C.; De Leeuw, J.W.

1984-01-01

Curie-point pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was applied to study the chemical structure of sound and fungus degraded, industrial and synthetic lignins. Pyrolysis products reflected in some detail the structural units present in the lignin polymer. Thus, sound spruce lignin yielded trans-isoeugenol coniferaldehyde and trans-coniferyl alcohol as major pyrolysis products. Biodegraded lignin yielded oxidized units, including vanillin, acetoguaiacone, methyl vanillate, propioguaiacone, vanilloyl methyl ketone and vanillic acid as major products. Kraft lignin also showed evidence of oxidation, although not as much as the biodegraded lignin. Major products from this industrial lignin were guaiacol, methylguaiacol, vinylguaiacol and homovanillic acid. Results indicated that synthetic lignin duplicates fairly well the structure of natural lignin. However, coniferylaldehyde and trans-coniferyl alcohol were the dominant products only from the synthetic lignin, indicating the presence of large amounts of coniferyl alcohol and coniferylaldehyde end groups. 21 references.

Phosphorus Retention (32P) by synthetic iron oxides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bittencourt, V.C.; Montanheiro, M.N.S.

1975-02-01

The P retention by iron oxides was characterized as a chemical adsorption process followed by a physical adsorption. The former process was very intense with initial amounts of added P but after a certain surface saturation is reached physical interaction occurs. It was supposed that the chemically adsorbed phosphate confers a negative charge on the iron oxides particles, which repels any further physical adsorbtion of the anion. However due to diffusion of phosphate ions into the internal layers of the iron oxides, their surface can retain further amounts of P [pt

Immobilization, hybridization, and oxidation of synthetic DNA on gold surface: Electron transfer investigated by electrochemistry and scanning tunneling microscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McEwen, Gerald D.; Chen Fan [Biological Engineering Program, Department of Biological and Irrigation Engineering, Utah State University, 4105 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322-4105 (United States); Zhou Anhong, E-mail: Anhong.Zhou@usu.edu [Biological Engineering Program, Department of Biological and Irrigation Engineering, Utah State University, 4105 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322-4105 (United States)

2009-06-08

Fundamental understanding of interfacial electron transfer (ET) among electrolyte/DNA/solid-surface will facilitate the design for electrical detection of DNA molecules. In this report, the electron transfer characteristics of synthetic DNA (sequence from pathogenic Cryptosporidium parvum) self-assembled on a gold surface was electrochemically studied. The effects of immobilization order on the interface ET related parameters such as diffusion coefficient (D{sub 0}), surface coverage ({theta}{sub R}), and monolayer thickness (d{sub i}) were determined by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). DNA surface density ({Gamma}{sub DNA}) was determined by the integration of the charge of the electro-oxidation current peaks during the initial cyclic voltammetry scans. It was found that the DNA surface densities at different modifications followed the order: {Gamma}{sub DNA} (dsS-DNA/Au) > {Gamma}{sub DNA} (MCH/dsS-DNA/Au) > {Gamma}{sub DNA} (dsS-DNA/MCH/Au). It was also revealed that the electro-oxidation of the DNA modified gold surface would involve the oxidation of nucleotides (guanine and adenine) with a 5.51 electron transfer mechanism and the oxidative desorption of DNA and MCH molecules by a 3 electron transfer mechanism. STM topography and current image analysis indicated that the surface conductivity after each surface modification followed the order: dsS-DNA/Au < MCH/dsS-DNA/Au < oxidized MCH/dsS-DNA/Au < Hoechst/oxidized MCH/dsS-DNA/Au. The results from this study suggested a combination of variations in immobilization order may provide an alternative approach for the optimization of DNA hybridization and the further development for electrical detection of DNA.

Chemically reduced graphene contains inherent metallic impurities present in parent natural and synthetic graphite

Science.gov (United States)

Ambrosi, Adriano; Chua, Chun Kiang; Khezri, Bahareh; Sofer, Zdeněk; Webster, Richard D.; Pumera, Martin

2012-01-01

Graphene-related materials are in the forefront of nanomaterial research. One of the most common ways to prepare graphenes is to oxidize graphite (natural or synthetic) to graphite oxide and exfoliate it to graphene oxide with consequent chemical reduction to chemically reduced graphene. Here, we show that both natural and synthetic graphite contain a large amount of metallic impurities that persist in the samples of graphite oxide after the oxidative treatment, and chemically reduced graphene after the chemical reduction. We demonstrate that, despite a substantial elimination during the oxidative treatment of graphite samples, a significant amount of impurities associated to the chemically reduced graphene materials still remain and alter their electrochemical properties dramatically. We propose a method for the purification of graphenes based on thermal treatment at 1,000 °C in chlorine atmosphere to reduce the effect of such impurities on the electrochemical properties. Our findings have important implications on the whole field of graphene research. PMID:22826262

Chemically reduced graphene contains inherent metallic impurities present in parent natural and synthetic graphite.

Science.gov (United States)

Ambrosi, Adriano; Chua, Chun Kiang; Khezri, Bahareh; Sofer, Zdeněk; Webster, Richard D; Pumera, Martin

2012-08-07

Graphene-related materials are in the forefront of nanomaterial research. One of the most common ways to prepare graphenes is to oxidize graphite (natural or synthetic) to graphite oxide and exfoliate it to graphene oxide with consequent chemical reduction to chemically reduced graphene. Here, we show that both natural and synthetic graphite contain a large amount of metallic impurities that persist in the samples of graphite oxide after the oxidative treatment, and chemically reduced graphene after the chemical reduction. We demonstrate that, despite a substantial elimination during the oxidative treatment of graphite samples, a significant amount of impurities associated to the chemically reduced graphene materials still remain and alter their electrochemical properties dramatically. We propose a method for the purification of graphenes based on thermal treatment at 1,000 °C in chlorine atmosphere to reduce the effect of such impurities on the electrochemical properties. Our findings have important implications on the whole field of graphene research.

Catalysts for synthetic liquid fuels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bruce, L.A.; Turney, T.W.

1987-12-01

Fischer-Tropsch catalysts have been designed, characterized and tested for the selective production of hydrocarbons suitable as synthetic liquid transport fuels from synthesis gas (i.e., by the reduction of carbon monoxide with hydrogen). It was found that hydrocarbons in the middle distillate range, or suitable for conversion to that range, could be produced over several of the new catalyst systems. The various catalysts examined included: (1) synthetic cobalt clays, mainly cobalt chlorites; (2) cobalt hydrotalcites; (3) ruthenium metal supported on rare earth oxides of high surface area; and (4) a novel promoted cobalt catalyst. Active and selective catalysts have been obtained, in each category. With the exception of the clays, reproducibility of catalyst performance has been good. Catalysts in groups 2 and 4 have exhibited very high activity, with long lifetimes and easy regeneration.

Raman spectrum of natural and synthetic stishovite

Science.gov (United States)

Hemley, R.J.; Mao, Ho-kwang; Chao, E.C.T.

1986-01-01

Raman spectra of natural and synthetic samples of stishovite have been measured with a micro-optical spectrometer system. These spectra have a pattern that is characteristic of rutile-structured oxides. The spectrum of synthetic stishovite is characterized by well-resolved bands at 231, 589, 753, and 967 cm-1, which are assigned as the B1g, Eg, A1g, and B2g fundamentals, respectively, of the first-order Raman spectrum of the ideal, ordered structure. Natural stishovite obtained from Meteor Crater, Arizona has a first-order Raman spectrum that is fully consistent with that of the synthetic material. The observed spectrum of the natural sample, however, is weaker and has bands in addition to those identified as fundamentals in the spectrum of the synthetic material. A broad band at ???475 cm-1 may be indicative of glass or contaminants derived from the extraction procedure. Alternatively, this band may arise from multiphonon scattering that is enhanced by poor crystallinity or structural disorder in the natural shocked sample. ?? 1986 Springer-Verlag.

Sulfonamide antibiotic removal and nitrogen recovery from synthetic urine by the combination of rotating advanced oxidation contactor and methylene urea synthesis process.

Science.gov (United States)

Fukahori, S; Fujiwara, T; Ito, R; Funamizu, N

2015-01-01

The combination of nitrogen recovery and pharmaceutical removal processes for livestock urine treatment were investigated to suppress the discharge of pollutants and recover nitrogen as resources. We combined methylene urea synthesis from urea and adsorption and photocatalytic decomposition of sulfonamide antibiotic using rotating advanced oxidation contactor (RAOC) contained for obtaining both safe fertilizer and reclaimed water. The methylene urea synthesis could recover urea in synthetic urine, however, almost all sulfonamide antibiotic was also incorporated, which is unfavorable from a safety aspect if the methylene urea is to be used as fertilizer. Conversely, RAOC could remove sulfonamide antibiotic without consuming urea. It was also confirmed that the methylene urea could be synthesized from synthetic urine treated by RAOC. Thus, we concluded that RAOC should be inserted prior to the nitrogen recovery process for effective treatment of urine and safe use of methylene urea as fertilizer.

Synthetic modeling chemistry of iron-sulfur clusters in nitric oxide signaling.

Science.gov (United States)

Fitzpatrick, Jessica; Kim, Eunsuk

2015-08-18

Nitric oxide (NO) is an important signaling molecule that is involved in many physiological and pathological functions. Iron-sulfur proteins are one of the main reaction targets for NO, and the [Fe-S] clusters within these proteins are converted to various iron nitrosyl species upon reaction with NO, of which dinitrosyl iron complexes (DNICs) are the most prevalent. Much progress has been made in identifying the origin of cellular DNIC generation. However, it is not well-understood which other products besides DNICs may form during [Fe-S] cluster degradation nor what effects DNICs and other degradation products can have once they are generated in cells. Even more elusive is an understanding of the manner by which cells cope with unwanted [Fe-S] modifications by NO. This Account describes our synthetic modeling efforts to identify cluster degradation products derived from the [2Fe-2S]/NO reaction in order to establish their chemical reactivity and repair chemistry. Our intent is to use the chemical knowledge that we generate to provide insight into the unknown biological consequences of cluster modification. Our recent advances in three different areas are described. First, new reaction conditions that lead to the formation of previously unrecognized products during the reaction of [Fe-S] clusters with NO are identified. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a gaseous signaling molecule, can be generated from the reaction between [2Fe-2S] clusters and NO in the presence of acid or formal H• (e(-)/H(+)) donors. In the presence of acid, a mononitrosyl iron complex (MNIC) can be produced as the major iron-containing product. Second, cysteine analogues can efficiently convert MNICs back to [2Fe-2S] clusters without the need for any other reagents. This reaction is possible for cysteine analogues because of their ability to labilize NO from MNICs and their capacity to undergo C-S bond cleavage, providing the necessary sulfide for [2Fe-2S] cluster formation. Lastly, unique dioxygen

Degradation of Synthetic Dyes by Laccases – A Mini-Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Legerská Barbora

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Laccases provide a promising future as a tool to be used in the field of biodegradation of synthetic dyes with different chemical structures. These enzymes are able to oxidize a wide range of phenolic substrates without the presence of additional co-factors. Laccases have been confirmed for their potential of synthetic dye degradation from wastewater and degradation products of these enzymatic reactions become less toxic than selected dyes. This study discusses the potential of laccase enzymes as agents for laccase-catalyzed degradation in terms of biodegradation efficiency of synthetic dyes, specifically: azo dyes, triphenylmethane, indigo and anthraquinone dyes. Review also summarizes the laccase-catalyzed degradation mechanisms of the selected synthetic dyes, as well as the degradation products and the toxicity of the dyes and their degradation products.

Synthetic heme/copper assemblies: toward an understanding of cytochrome c oxidase interactions with dioxygen and nitrogen oxides.

Science.gov (United States)

Hematian, Shabnam; Garcia-Bosch, Isaac; Karlin, Kenneth D

2015-08-18

Our long-time niche in synthetic biological inorganic chemistry has been to design ligands and generate coordination complexes of copper or iron ions or both, those reacting with dioxygen (O2) or nitrogen oxides (e.g., nitric oxide (NO(g)) and nitrite (NO2(-))) or both. As inspiration for this work, we turn to mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase, which is responsible for dioxygen consumption and is also the predominant target for NO(g) and nitrite within mitochondria. In this Account, we highlight recent advances in studying synthetic heme/Cu complexes in two respects. First, there is the design, synthesis, and characterization of new O2 adducts whose further study will add insights into O2 reductive cleavage chemistry. Second, we describe how related heme/Cu constructs reduce nitrite ion to NO(g) or the reverse, oxidize NO(g) to nitrite. The reactions of nitrogen oxides occur as part of CcO's function, which is intimately tied to cellular O2 balance. We had first discovered that reduced heme/Cu compounds react with O2 giving μ-oxo heme-Fe(III)-O-Cu(II)(L) products; their properties are discussed. The O-atom is derived from dioxygen, and interrogations of these systems led to the construction and characterization of three distinctive classes of heme-peroxo complexes, two high-spin and one low-spin species. Recent investigations include a new approach to the synthesis of low-spin heme-peroxo-Cu complexes, employing a "naked" synthon, where the copper ligand denticity and geometric types can be varied. The result is a collection of such complexes; spectroscopic and structural features (by DFT calculations) are described. Some of these compounds are reactive toward reductants/protons effecting subsequent O-O cleavage. This points to how subtle improvements in ligand environment lead to a desired local structure and resulting optimized reactivity, as known to occur at enzyme active sites. The other sector of research is focused on heme/Cu assemblies mediating the redox

Synthetic biology, inspired by synthetic chemistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Malinova, V; Nallani, M; Meier, W P; Sinner, E K

2012-07-16

The topic synthetic biology appears still as an 'empty basket to be filled'. However, there is already plenty of claims and visions, as well as convincing research strategies about the theme of synthetic biology. First of all, synthetic biology seems to be about the engineering of biology - about bottom-up and top-down approaches, compromising complexity versus stability of artificial architectures, relevant in biology. Synthetic biology accounts for heterogeneous approaches towards minimal and even artificial life, the engineering of biochemical pathways on the organismic level, the modelling of molecular processes and finally, the combination of synthetic with nature-derived materials and architectural concepts, such as a cellular membrane. Still, synthetic biology is a discipline, which embraces interdisciplinary attempts in order to have a profound, scientific base to enable the re-design of nature and to compose architectures and processes with man-made matter. We like to give an overview about the developments in the field of synthetic biology, regarding polymer-based analogs of cellular membranes and what questions can be answered by applying synthetic polymer science towards the smallest unit in life, namely a cell. Copyright © 2012 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

21 CFR 73.2250 - Iron oxides.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Iron oxides. 73.2250 Section 73.2250 Food and... ADDITIVES EXEMPT FROM CERTIFICATION Cosmetics § 73.2250 Iron oxides. (a) Identity. The color additives iron oxides consist of any one or any combination of synthetically prepared iron oxides, including the...

METAL OXIDE NANOPARTICLES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

FERNANDEZ-GARCIA,M.; RODGRIGUEZ, J.A.

2007-10-01

This chapter covers the fundamental science, synthesis, characterization, physicochemical properties and applications of oxide nanomaterials. Explains fundamental aspects that determine the growth and behavior of these systems, briefly examines synthetic procedures using bottom-up and top-down fabrication technologies, discusses the sophisticated experimental techniques and state of the art theory results used to characterize the physico-chemical properties of oxide solids and describe the current knowledge concerning key oxide materials with important technological applications.

Synthetic lubricants based on copolymers of n-butyl methacrylate and α-olefins

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Đakov Tatjana A.

2002-01-01

Full Text Available Synthetic fluids obtained by the copolymerization of α -olefins with alkyl esters of unsaturated carboxylic acids have a unique combination of properties of non-polar poly-a-olefins (PAOs and polar esters in a single molecule. These compounds are characterized by superior thermal, oxidative and hydrolytic stability, miscibility with mineral and synthetic base oils solubility of additives and neutral elastomer behavior. Depending on the molar masses and comonomer ratios in the copolymer molecule, synthetic fluids with a wide range of properties are obtained. These compounds are valuable components in lubricating oil formulations for different applications.

Electrochemical oxidation of synthetic tannery wastewater in chloride-free aqueous media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Costa, Carla Regina; Montilla, Francisco; Morallon, Emilia; Olivi, Paulo

2010-01-01

The electrochemical treatment of a synthetic tannery wastewater, prepared with several compounds used by finishing tanneries, was studied in chloride-free media. Boron-doped diamond (Si/BDD), antimony-doped tin dioxide (Ti/SnO 2 -Sb), and iridium-antimony-doped tin dioxide (Ti/SnO 2 -Sb-Ir) were evaluated as anode. The influence of pH and current density on the treatment was assessed by means of the parameters used to measure the level of organic contaminants in the wastewater; i.e., total phenols, chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC), and absorbance. Results showed that faster decrease in these parameters occurred when the Si/BDD anode was used. Good results were obtained with the Ti/SnO 2 -Sb anode, but its complete deactivation was reached after 4 h of electrolysis at 25 mA cm -2 , indicating that the service life of this electrode is short. The Ti/SnO 2 -Sb-Ir anode is chemically and electrochemically more stable than the Ti/SnO 2 -Sb anode, but it is not suitable for the electrochemical treatment under the studied conditions. No significant changes were observed for electrolyses performed at different pH conditions with Si/BDD, and this electrode led to almost complete mineralization after 4 h of electrolysis at 100 mA cm -2 . The increase in current density resulted in faster wastewater oxidation, with lower current efficiency and higher energy consumption. Si/BBD proved to be the best electrodic material for the direct electrooxidation of tannery wastewaters.

Novel metal oxides prepared by ingenious synthetic routes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rao, C.N.R.; Gopalakrishnan, J.; Vidyasagar, K.; Ganguli, A.K.; Ramanan, A.; Ganapathi, L.

1986-01-01

Several novel oxides have been prepared by the decomposition of carbonate precursors of calcite structure of the general formulas Mn/sub 1-x/M/sub x/CO 3 (M = Mg,Co,Cd), Ca/sub 1-x/M/sup prime//sub x/CO 3 , and Ca/sub 1-x/-yM/sup //sub x/M/sup double-prime//sub y/CO 3 (M',M'' = Mn,Fe,Co). Typical of the oxides synthesized are a variety of monoxides, Mn/sub 1-x/M/sub x/O, of rocksalt structure and perovskite-related oxides such as Ca 2 FeCoO 5 , Ca 2 Co 2 O 5 , and Ca 3 Fe 2 MnO 8 , many of them exhibiting novel anion-vacancy-ordered superstructures. An interesting series of oxides prepared by the topotactic reduction of Ca 2 Fe/sub 2-x/Mn/sub x/O/sub 6-y/ (synthesized by the decomposition of the corresponding carbonate precursors) is Ca 2 Fe/sub 2-x/Mn/sub x/O 5 where three different coordination polyhedra (octahedra, tetrahedra, and square pyramids) of the transition metals coexist. Topotactic reduction of LaCoO 3 and LaNiO 3 yields new oxides, La 2 Co 2 O 5 and La 2 Ni 2 O 5 , possessing anion-vacancy-ordered superstructures. While La 2 Co 2 O 5 adopts the brownmillerite structure, La 2 Ni 2 O 5 exhibits a new type of vacancy ordering with octahedral and square-planar coordination of Ni 2+ . Slightly reduced LaNiO 3 seem to exhibit crystallographic shear (CS) planes similar to WO/sub 3-x/. Topotactic dehydration of isostructural Mo/sub 1-x/W/sub x/O 3 x H 2 O provides a convenient route for the synthesis of Mo/sub 1-x/W/sub x/O 3 (0 3 -related structure

Raman spectroscopy of synthetic and natural iowaite.

Science.gov (United States)

Frost, Ray L; Adebajo, Moses O; Erickson, Kristy L

2005-02-01

The chemistry of a magnesium based hydrotalcite known as iowaite Mg6Fe2Cl2(OH)16.4H2O has been studied using Raman spectroscopy. Iowaite has chloride as the counter anion in the interlayer. The formula of synthetic iowaite was found to be Mg5.78Fe2.09(Cl,(CO3)0.5)(OH)16.4H2O. Oxidation of natural iowaite results in the formation of Mg4FeO(Cl,CO3) (OH)8.4H2O. X-ray diffraction (XRD) shows that the iowaite is a layered structure with a d(001) spacing of 8.0 angtsroms. For synthetic iowaite three Raman bands at 1376, 1194 and 1084 cm(-1) are attributed to CO3 stretching vibrations. These bands are not observed for the natural iowaite but are observed when the natural iowaite is exposed to air. The Raman spectrum of natural iowaite shows three bands at 708, 690 and 620 cm(-1) and upon exposure to air, two broad bands are found at 710 and 648 cm(-1). The Raman spectrum of synthetic iowaite has a very broad band at 712 cm(-1). The Raman spectrum of natural iowaite shows an intense band at 527 cm(-1). The air oxidized iowaite shows two bands at 547 and 484 cm(-1) attributed to the (CO3)(2-)nu2 bending mode. Raman spectroscopy has proven most useful for the study of the chemistry of iowaite and chemical changes induced in natural iowaite upon exposure to air.

CYP3A4 Mediates Oxidative Metabolism of the Synthetic Cannabinoid AKB-48

OpenAIRE

Holm, Niels Bjerre; Nielsen, Line Marie; Linnet, Kristian

2015-01-01

Synthetic cannabinoid designer drugs have emerged as drugs of abuse during the last decade, and acute intoxication cases are documented in the scientific literature. Synthetic cannabinoids are extensively metabolized, but our knowledge of the involved enzymes is limited. Here, we investigated the metabolism of N-(1-adamantyl)-1-pentyl-1H-indazole-3-carboxamide (AKB-48), a compound identified in herbal blends from 2012 and onwards. We screened for metabolite formation using a panel of nine rec...

The adjuvant potential of synthetic alkylglycerols.

Science.gov (United States)

Acevedo, Reinaldo; Gil, Danay; del Campo, Judith; Bracho, Gustavo; Valdés, Yolanda; Pérez, Oliver

2006-04-12

Alkylglycerols (AGs) have shown immune stimulant and adjuvant activity in many studies, but natural sources are not so accessible and their extraction from them is very complicated. Therefore, a group of chemists at IFAL have synthesized AG analogs. The aim of this work was to evaluate the adjuvant potential of different synthetic AGs. A mix of ovoalbumin (Ova) and AGs increase anti-Ova IgG antibodies production in sera of immunized mice. The predominant subclass was IgG1 although higher levels of IgG2a were observed as the carbon chain length of AGs increased. AGs also induced the production of IL-12 and nitric oxide (NO) in the U937 human histiocyte and J774 mouse macrophage cell lines, respectively. These results indicate that synthetic AGs are effective adjuvants for the standardized antigen, Ova.

Development of new synthetic routes to bile pigments and synthesis of deuterated porphyrins

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shim, Y.K.

1985-01-01

New synthetic routes to pyrromethanones using hydrogen peroxide/pyridine upon alpha-free pyrromethanes and a synthesis of mesobiliverdin are described. The pyrromethanones were applied to the synthesis of mesobiliverdin using 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyanobenzoquinone (DDQ) oxidation of mesourbilin, to give a high yield of the desired mesobiliverdin. New synthetic methodology to pyrrolinones using various oxidizing reagents were also described. Treatment of alpha-free pyrrole with thallium(III) trifluoroacetate (TTFA) gave a mixture of a pyrrolinone and a dimeric compound. The yield and the ratio of the two products were variable depending upon the solvents and the mole ratio of the TTFA used. Pyrrolinone syntheses using the other oxidizing reagents are also described. Syntheses of carbon-14 labelled biliverdins are also described. In addition, the preparation of biliverdin IX-BETA using b-bilene route is described. The second part of this study contains an introduction to porphyrins and syntheses of 6,7-bis(2-methoxycarbonyl-1,1-dideuteroethyl)-1,3,5,8-tetramethyl-2,4-divinylporphyrin. The latter is important in the study of heme protein reconstitution experiments. As a result of numerous synthetic approaches the desired product was obtained from the appropriately deuterated formylpyrrole using the a,c-biladiene route

Synthesis of Pyrroloquinones via a CAN Mediated Oxidative Free Radical Reaction of 1,3-Dicarbonyl Compounds with Aminoquinones

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thao Nguyen

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Pyrroloquinone ring systems are important structural units present in many biologically active molecules including a number of marine alkaloids. For example, they are found in a series of marine metabolites, such as tsitsikammamines, zyzzyanones, wakayin, and terreusinone. Several of these alkaloids have exhibited antimicrobial, antimalarial, antifungal, antitumor, and photoprotecting activities. Synthesis of pyrroloquinone unit is the key step in the synthesis of many of these important organic molecules. Here, we present a ceric (IV ammonium nitrate (CAN mediated oxidative free radical cyclization reaction of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds with aminoquinones as a facile methodology for making various substituted pyrroloquinones. 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds used in this study are ethyl acetoacetate, acetylacetone, benzoyl acetone, and N,N-dimethyl acetoacetamide. The aminoquinones used in this study are 2-(benzylaminonaphthalene-1,4-dione and 6-(benzylamino-1-tosyl-1H-indole-4,7-dione. The yields of the synthesized pyrroloquinones ranged from 23–91%.

Electrochemical redox processes involving soluble cerium species

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arenas, L.F.; Ponce de León, C.; Walsh, F.C.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • The relevance of cerium in laboratory and industrial electrochemistry is considered. • The history of fundamental electrochemical studies and applications is considered. • The chemistry, redox thermodynamics and electrode kinetics of cerium are summarised. • The uses of cerium ions in synthesis, energy storage, analysis and environmental treatment are illustrated. • Research needs and development perspectives are discussed. - Abstract: Anodic oxidation of cerous ions and cathodic reduction of ceric ions, in aqueous acidic solutions, play an important role in electrochemical processes at laboratory and industrial scale. Ceric ions, which have been used for oxidation of organic wastes and off-gases in environmental treatment, are a well-established oxidant for indirect organic synthesis and specialised cleaning processes, including oxide film removal from tanks and process pipework in nuclear decontamination. They also provide a classical reagent for chemical analysis in the laboratory. The reversible oxidation of cerous ions is an important reaction in the positive compartment of various redox flow batteries during charge and discharge cycling. A knowledge of the thermodynamics and kinetics of the redox reaction is critical to an understanding of the role of cerium redox species in these applications. Suitable choices of electrode material (metal or ceramic; coated or uncoated), geometry/structure (2-or 3-dimensional) and electrolyte flow conditions (hence an acceptable mass transport rate) are critical to achieving effective electrocatalysis, a high performance and a long lifetime. This review considers the electrochemistry of soluble cerium species and their diverse uses in electrochemical technology, especially for redox flow batteries and mediated electrochemical oxidation.

Advancing Sustainable Catalysis with Magnetite Surface Modification and Synthetic Applications

Science.gov (United States)

This article surveys the recent developments in the synthesis, surface modification, and synthetic applications of magnetitenanoparticles. The emergence of iron(II,III) oxide (triiron tetraoxide or magnetite; Fe3O4, or FeO•Fe2O3) nanoparticles as a sustainable support in heteroge...

Correlation of the oxidation state of cerium in sol-gel glasses as a function of thermal treatment via optical spectroscopy and XANES studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Assefa, Zerihun; Haire, R G; Caulder, D L; Shuh, D K

2004-07-01

Sol-gel glass matrices containing lanthanides have numerous technological applications and their formation involves several chemical facets. In the case of cerium, its ability to exist in two different oxidation states or in mixed valence state provides additional complexities for the sol-gel process. The oxidation state of cerium present during different facets of preparation of sol-gel glasses, and also as a function of the starting oxidation state of cerium added, were studied both by optical spectroscopy and X-ray absorption near-edge structures (XANES). The findings acquired by each approach were compared. The primary focus was on the redox chemistries associated with sample preparation, gelation, and thermal treatment. When Ce3+ is introduced into the starting sols, the trivalent state normally prevails in the wet and room temperature-dried gels. Heating in air at >100 degrees C can generate a light yellow coloration with partial oxidation to the tetravalent state. Above 200 degrees C and up to approximately 1000 degrees C, cerium is oxidized to its tetravalent state. In contrast, when tetravalent cerium is introduced into the sol, both the wet and room temperature-dried gels lose the yellow-brown color of the initial ceric ammonium nitrate solution. When the sol-gel is heated to 110 degrees C it turns yellowish as the cerium tends to be re-oxidized. The yellow color is believed to represent the effect of oxidation and oligomerization of the cerium-silanol units in the matrix. The luminescence properties are also affected by these changes, the details of which are reported herein.

Syntheses of rare-earth metal oxide nanotubes by the sol-gel method assisted with porous anodic aluminum oxide templates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuang Qin; Lin Zhiwei; Lian Wei; Jiang Zhiyuan; Xie Zhaoxiong; Huang Rongbin; Zheng Lansun

2007-01-01

In this paper, we report a versatile synthetic method of ordered rare-earth metal (RE) oxide nanotubes. RE (RE=Y, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Yb) oxide nanotubes were successfully prepared from corresponding RE nitrate solution via the sol-gel method assisted with porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution TEM, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) have been employed to characterize the morphology and composition of the as-prepared nanotubes. It is found that as-prepared RE oxides evolve into bamboo-like nanotubes and entirely hollow nanotubes. A new possible formation mechanism of RE oxide nanotubes in the AAO channels is proposed. These high-quantity RE oxide nanotubes are expected to have promising applications in many areas such as luminescent materials, catalysts, magnets, etc. - Graphical abstract: A versatile synthetic method for the preparation of ordered rare-earth (RE) oxide nanotubes is reported, by which RE (RE=Y, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Yb) oxide nanotubes were successfully prepared from corresponding RE nitrate solution via the sol-gel method assisted with porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates

Synthetic fuel production costs by means of solid oxide electrolysis cells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ridjan, Iva; Mathiesen, Brian Vad; Connolly, David

2014-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of fuel production costs for two types of synthetic fuels – methanol and methane, along with comparable costs for first and second generation biodiesel, two types of second generation bioethanol, and biogas. When analysing 100% renewable systems...

Natural - synthetic - artificial!

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Peter E

2010-01-01

The terms "natural," "synthetic" and "artificial" are discussed in relation to synthetic and artificial chromosomes and genomes, synthetic and artificial cells and artificial life.......The terms "natural," "synthetic" and "artificial" are discussed in relation to synthetic and artificial chromosomes and genomes, synthetic and artificial cells and artificial life....

Phosphorus collectors from filter paper and synthetic cloth coated with iron or aluminium oxide to provide phosphorus by diffusion in soils

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eduardo Bernardi Luchese

2000-01-01

Full Text Available Phosphorus collectors made from filter paper and synthetic cloth, were tested to evaluate their feasibility of determining the need for phosphate application. The collectors were coated with two types of oxides, iron oxide and aluminium oxide. The capacity of the collectors was tested by placing them in a 2 mL of solution containing phosphorus (PO4(3- in the concentration of 0.0, 1.00, 3.00, 5.00, 7.00, 9.00 and 11.00 µ g.mL-1, respectively, after which they were placed in contact with four types of soil (LBa, LRd, LEd and Ca and incubed for 0.0 and 24 h. In this test the soils were kept at a humidity equivalent to 150 mmHg suction. The amount of phosphorus extracted from the solutions was tested at intervals between 0,0 and 11.0 µ g of phosphorus/mL. Results indicated that collectors were most efficient in Dystrophic Dark-Red Latosol (LEd and less efficient in "Bruno álico" Latosol (LBa and Cambisol (Ca. Synthetic cloth was the support yielding the best performance, whereas iron oxide lining was the most adequate lining material. Phosphorus collection increased with time of incubation.Coletores de fósforo feitos de papel filtro e pano sintético (perfex foram usados no estudo da determinação da necessidade de adubação fosfatada. Foram preparados coletores impregnados com óxido de ferro e outros com óxido de alumínio. A capacidade foi testada colocando-os em 2 mL de uma solução padrão de fósforo (na forma de fosfato com 0,0; 1,00; 3,00; 5,00; 7,00; 9,00 e 11;00 µg.mL-1 , depois foram colocados em contato com 4 tipos de solos (Lba, LRd, Led e Ca e incubados por 0,0 e 24 horas. No teste, os solos foram mantidos com uma umidade equivalente a 150 mmHg de sucção. Os resultados mostraram que os coletores foram mais eficientes, na extração de fósforo, no solo LED e menos eficiente no LBa e Ca (Cambissolo. O pano sintético foi a matriz (material suporte que proporcionou melhores resultados. O óxido de ferro foi o substrato foi o

Experiment Plan of High Temperature Steam and Carbon dioxide Co-electrolysis for Synthetic Gas Production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoon, Duk-Joo; Ko, Jae-Hwa

2008-01-01

Currently, Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) come into the spotlight in the middle of the energy technologies of the future for highly effective conversion of fossil fuels into electricity without carbon dioxide emission. The SOFC is a reversible cell. By applying electrical power to the cell, which is solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC), it is possible to produce synthetic gas (syngas) from high temperature steam and carbon dioxide. The produced syngas (hydrogen and carbon monoxide) can be used for synthetic fuels. This SOEC technology can use high temperature from VHTRs for high efficiency. This paper describes KEPRI's experiment plan of high temperature steam and carbon co-electrolysis for syngas production using SOEC technology

Is the Oxidative Stress Really a Disease?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fogarasi Erzsébet

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Oxidative stress is an imbalance between free radicals or other reactive species and the antioxidant activity of the organism. Oxidative stress can induce several illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disorders, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer and Parkinson. The biomarkers of oxidative stress are used to test oxidative injury of biomolecules. The indicators of lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde, 4-hydroxy- 2-nonenal, 2-propenal, isoprostanes, of protein oxidation (carbonylated proteins, tyrosine derivatives, of oxidative damage of DNA, and other biomarkers (glutathione level, metallothioneins, myeloperoxidase activity are the most used oxidative stress markers. Diseases caused by oxidative stress can be prevented with antioxidants. In human body are several enzymes with antioxidant capacity (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and spin traps. Antioxidants are synthetized in the organism (glutathione or arrive in the body by nutrition (ascorbic acid, vitamin E, carotenoids, flavonoids, resveratrol, xanthones. Different therapeutic strategies to reduce oxidative stress with the use of synthetic molecules such as nitrone-based antioxidants (phenyl-α-tert-butyl-nitrone (PBN, 2,4-disulphophenyl- N-tert-butylnitrone (NXY-059, stilbazulenyl nitrone (STAZN, which scavenge a wide variety of free radical species, increase endogenous antioxidant levels and inhibits free radical generation are also tested in animal models.

A microbial-mineralization-inspired approach for synthesis of manganese oxide nanostructures with controlled oxidation states and morphologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oba, Manabu; Oaki, Yuya; Imai, Hiroaki [Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama 223-8522 (Japan)

2010-12-21

Manganese oxide nanostructures are synthesized by a route inspired by microbial mineralization in nature. The combination of organic molecules, which include antioxidizing and chelating agents, facilitates the parallel control of oxidation states and morphologies in an aqueous solution at room temperature. Divalent manganese hydroxide (Mn(OH){sub 2}) is selectively obtained as a stable dried powder by using a combination of ascorbic acid as an antioxidizing agent and other organic molecules with the ability to chelate to manganese ions. The topotactic oxidation of the resultant Mn(OH){sub 2} leads to the selective formation of trivalent manganese oxyhydroxide ({beta}-MnOOH) and trivalent/tetravalent sodium manganese oxide (birnessite, Na{sub 0.55}Mn{sub 2}O{sub 4}.1.5H{sub 2}O). For microbial mineralization in nature, similar synthetic routes via intermediates have been proposed in earlier works. Therefore, these synthetic routes, which include in the present study the parallel control over oxidation states and morphologies of manganese oxides, can be regarded as new biomimetic routes for synthesis of transition metal oxide nanostructures. As a potential application, it is demonstrated that the resultant {beta}-MnOOH nanostructures perform as a cathode material for lithium ion batteries. (Copyright copyright 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Plant synthetic biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Wusheng; Stewart, C Neal

2015-05-01

Plant synthetic biology is an emerging field that combines engineering principles with plant biology toward the design and production of new devices. This emerging field should play an important role in future agriculture for traditional crop improvement, but also in enabling novel bioproduction in plants. In this review we discuss the design cycles of synthetic biology as well as key engineering principles, genetic parts, and computational tools that can be utilized in plant synthetic biology. Some pioneering examples are offered as a demonstration of how synthetic biology can be used to modify plants for specific purposes. These include synthetic sensors, synthetic metabolic pathways, and synthetic genomes. We also speculate about the future of synthetic biology of plants. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Synthetic Cannabinoids

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aslihan Okan Ibiloglu

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Synthetic cannabinoids which is a subgroup of cannabinoids are commonly used for recreational drug use throughout the whole world. Although both marijuana and synthetic cannabinoids stimulate the same receptors, cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1 and cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2, studies have shown that synthetic cannabinoids are much more potent than marijuana. The longer use of synthetic cannabinoids can cause severe physical and psychological symptoms that might even result in death, similar to many known illicit drugs. Main treatment options mostly involve symptom management and supportive care. The aim of this article is to discuss clinical and pharmacological properties of the increasingly used synthetic cannabinoids. [Psikiyatride Guncel Yaklasimlar - Current Approaches in Psychiatry 2017; 9(3.000: 317-328

A comparative study on the graft copolymerization of acrylic acid onto rayon fibre by a ceric ion redox system and a γ-radiation method.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaur, Inderjeet; Kumar, Raj; Sharma, Neelam

2010-10-13

Functionalization of rayon fibre has been carried out by grafting acrylic acid (AAC) both by a chemical method using a Ce(4+)-HNO(3) redox initiator and by a mutual irradiation (γ-rays) method. The reaction conditions affecting the grafting percentage have been optimized for both methods, and the results are compared. The maximum percentage of grafting (50%) by the chemical method was obtained utilizing 18.24 × 10(-3) moles/L of ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN), 39.68 × 10(-2) moles/L of HNO(3), and 104.08 × 10(-2) moles/L of AAc in 20 mL of water at 45°C for 120 min. For the radiation method, the maximum grafting percentage (60%) was higher, and the product was obtained under milder reaction conditions using a lower concentration of AAc (69.38 × 10(-2) moles/L) in 10 mL of water at an optimum total dose of 0.932 kGy. Swelling studies showed higher swelling for the grafted rayon fibre in water (854.54%) as compared to the pristine fibre (407%), while dye uptake studies revealed poor uptake of the dye (crystal violet) by the grafted fibre in comparison with the pristine fibre. The graft copolymers were characterized by IR, TGA, and scanning electron micrographic methods. Grafted fibre, prepared by the radiation-induced method, showed better thermal behaviour. Comparison of the two methods revealed that the radiation method of grafting of acrylic acid onto rayon fibre is a better method of grafting in comparison with the chemical method. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Stabilisation of phytosterols by natural and synthetic antioxidants in high temperature conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Kmiecik, Dominik; Korczak, Józef; Rudzińska, Magdalena; Gramza-Michałowska, Anna; Hęś, Marzanna; Kobus-Cisowska, Joanna

2015-04-15

The aim of the study was to assess the potential applicability of natural antioxidants in the stabilisation of phytosterols. A mixture of β-sitosterol and campesterol was incorporated into triacylglycerols (TAGs). The following antioxidants were added to the prepared matrix: green tea extract, rosemary extract, a mix of tocopherols from rapeseed oil, a mix of synthetic tocopherols, phenolic compounds extracted from rapeseed meal, sinapic acid and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). Samples were heated at a temperature of 180 °C for 4 h. After the completion of heating, the losses of phytosterols were analysed, as well as the contents of β-sitosterol and campesterol oxidation products. The total content of phytosterol oxidation products in samples ranged from 96.69 to 268.35 μg/g of oil. The effectiveness of antioxidants decreased in the following order: phenolic compounds from rapeseed meal>rosemary extract>mix of tocopherols from rapeseed oil>mix of synthetic tocopherols>green tea extract>sinapic acid>BHT. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[From synthetic biology to synthetic humankind].

Science.gov (United States)

Nouvel, Pascal

2015-01-01

In this paper, we propose an historical survey of the expression "synthetic biology" in order to identify its main philosophical components. The result of the analysis is then used to investigate the meaning of the notion of "synthetic man". It is shown that both notions share a common philosophical background that can be summed up by the short but meaningful assertion: "biology is technology". The analysis allows us to distinguish two notions that are often confused in transhumanist literature: the notion of synthetic man and the notion of renewed man. The consequences of this crucial distinction are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Académie des sciences. Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

Redox substoichiometric determination of arsenic in biological materials by neutron activation analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kanda, Y.; Suzuki, N.

1979-01-01

Redox substoichiometry is proposed for an accurate and precise determination of arsenic. This method is based on the substoichiometric oxidation of trivalent arsenic to pentavalent with potassium bromate or ceric sulfate followed by the separation of these species by thionalide extraction of trivalent arsenic. It was applied to neutron activation analysis of arsenic in the NBS SRM Orchard Leaves and the Shark Powder. The results were obtained with and excellent accuracy and precision. (author)

The feasibility of synthetic fuels in renewable energy systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ridjan, Iva; Mathiesen, Brian Vad; Connolly, D.

2013-01-01

, and other impacts on the environment and biosphere. Hence, it is essential to make a detailed analysis of this sector in order to match the demand and to meet the criteria of a 100% renewable energy system in 2050. The purpose of this article is to identify potential pathways for producing synthetic fuels......, with a specific focus on solid oxide electrolyser cells (SOEC) combined with the recycling of CO2....

The feasibility of synthetic fuels in renewable energy systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ridjan, Iva; Mathiesen, Brian Vad; Connolly, David

2012-01-01

supplies, and other impacts on environment and biosphere. Hence, it is essential to make a detailed analysis of this sector in order to match the demand and to meet the criteria of a 100% renewable energy system in 2050. The purpose of this article is to identify potential pathways for producing synthetic...... fuels, with a specific focus on solid oxide electrolyser cells combined with the recycling of CO2....

Gamma-radiolytic preparation of multi-component oxides

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Procházková, L.; Bárta, J.; Čuba, V.; Ekberg, C.; Tietze, S.; Jakubec, Ivo

2016-01-01

Roč. 124, JUL (2016), s. 68-74 ISSN 0969-806X. [Tihany Symposium on Radiation Chemistry /13./. Balatonalmadi, 29.08.2015-03.09.2015] Institutional support: RVO:61388980 Keywords : Radiation synthesis * Inorganic oxide * Zinc oxide * Synthetic garnet * X-ray diffraction Subject RIV: CA - Inorganic Chemistry Impact factor: 1.315, year: 2016

Synthetic flux as a whitening agent for ceramic tiles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rodrigues dos Santos, Geocris, E-mail: geocris.rodrigues@gmail.com [INNOVARE Inteligência Em Cerâmica, 13566-420 São Carlos, SP (Brazil); Departamento De Engenharia Dos Materiais, Universidade Federal De São Carlos, 13565-905 São Carlos, SP (Brazil); Salvetti, Alfredo Roque [Departamento De Física, Universidade Federal De Mato Grosso Do Sul (Brazil); Cabrelon, Marcelo Dezena [INNOVARE Inteligência Em Cerâmica, 13566-420 São Carlos, SP (Brazil); Departamento De Engenharia Dos Materiais, Universidade Federal De São Carlos, 13565-905 São Carlos, SP (Brazil); Morelli, Márcio Raymundo [Departamento De Engenharia Dos Materiais, Universidade Federal De São Carlos, 13565-905 São Carlos, SP (Brazil)

2014-12-05

Highlights: • The synthetic flux acts as a whitening agent of firing color in raw material ceramics. • The raw material ceramics have high levels of the iron oxides and red color. • The different process obtained red color clays with hematite and illite phases. • The whiteness ceramic obtained herein can be used in a porcelain tile industry. - Abstract: A synthetic flux is proposed as a whitening agent of firing color in tile ceramic paste during the sinterization process, thus turning the red firing color into whiteness. By using this mechanism in the ceramic substrates, the stoneware tiles can be manufactured using low cost clays with high levels of iron oxides. This method proved to be an economical as well as commercial strategy for the ceramic tile industries because, in Brazil, the deposits have iron compounds as mineral component (Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3}) in most of the raw materials. Therefore, several compositions of tile ceramic paste make use of natural raw materials, and a synthetic flux in order to understand how the interaction of the iron element, in the mechanism of firing color ceramic, occurs in this system. The bodies obtained were fired at 1100 °C for 5 min in air atmosphere to promote the color change. After the heating, the samples were submitted to X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analyses. The results showed that the change of firing color occurs because the iron element, which is initially in the crystal structure of the hematite phase, is transformed into a new crystal (clinopyroxenes phase) formed during the firing, so as to make the final firing color lighter.

Organocatalyzed Asymmetric α-Oxidation, α-Aminoxylation and α-Amination of Carbonyl Compounds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Worawan Bhanthumnavin

2010-02-01

Full Text Available Organocatalytic asymmetric α-oxidation and amination reactions of carbonyl compounds are highly useful synthetic methodologies, especially in generating chiral building blocks that previously have not been easily accessible by traditional methods. The concept is relatively new and therefore the list of new catalysts, oxidizing and aminating reagents, as well as new substrates, are expanding at an amazing rate. The scope of this review includes new reactions and catalysts, mechanistic aspects and synthetic applications of α-oxidation, hydroxylation, aminoxylation, amination, hydrazination, hydroxyamination and related α-heteroatom functionalization of aldehydes, ketones and related active methylene compounds published during 2005–2009.

Synthetic strategies for controlling inter- and intramolecular interactions: Applications in single-molecule fluorescence imaging, bioluminescence imaging, and palladium catalysis

Science.gov (United States)

Conley, Nicholas R.

The field of synthetic organic chemistry has reached such maturity that, with sufficient effort and resources, the synthesis of virtually any small molecule which exhibits reasonable stability at room temperature can be realized. While representing a monumental achievement for the field, the ability to exert precise control over molecular structure is just a means to an end, and it is frequently the responsibility of the synthetic chemist to determine which molecules should actually be synthesized. For better or worse, there exists no competitive free market in academia for new molecules, and as a result, the decision of which compounds should be synthesized is seldom driven by the forces of supply and demand; rather, it is guided by the synthetic chemist's interest in an anticipated structure-function relationship or in the properties of a previously unstudied class of molecules. As a consequence, there exists a pervasive need for chemists with synthetic expertise in fields (e.g., molecular imaging) and subdisciplines of chemistry (e.g., physical chemistry) in which the identification of promising synthetic targets dramatically outpaces the synthetic output in that field or subdiscipline, and ample opportunities are available for synthetic chemists who choose to pursue such cross-disciplinary research. This thesis describes synthetic efforts that leverage these opportunities to realize applications in biological imaging and in palladium catalysis. In Part I, the synthesis and characterization of three novel luminophores and their imaging applications are discussed. The first is a molecular beacon that utilizes a fluorophorefluorophore pair which exhibits H-dimer quenching in the closed conformation. This probe offers several advantages over conventional fluorophore-quencher molecular beacons in the detection of oligonucleotides, both in bulk and at the single-molecule level. Secondly, a fluorescent, Cy3-Cy5 covalent heterodimer is reported, which on account of the

A study of selective precipitation techniques used to recover refined iron oxide pigments for the production of paint from a synthetic acid mine drainage solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ryan, M.J.; Kney, A.D.; Carley, T.L.

2017-01-01

New resource recovery methods of acid mine drainage (AMD) treatment aim to reduce waste by extracting iron contaminants in usable forms, specifically iron oxides as industrial inorganic pigments, which can be marketed and sold to subsidize treatment costs. In this study, iron oxide pigments of varying colors and properties were recovered from a synthetic AMD solution through a stepwise selective precipitation process using oxidation, pH adjustment, and filtration. Chemical and physical design variables within the process, such as alkaline addition rate, reaction temperature, drying duration, and target pH, were altered and observed for their effects on iron oxide morphology as a means of reducing—or even eliminating—the need for refining after synthesis. Resulting iron oxide pigment powders were analyzed with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and visually evaluated for color and coating ability. Drying duration resulted in increased redness in paint streaks and enhanced crystallinity, as amorphous phases of iron oxide transformed into hematite. Alkaline addition rate showed no effect on the crystallinity of the powders and no consistent effect on color. Conversely, increasing reaction temperature darkened the color of pigments and increased surface area of pigment particles (thus improving coating ability) without changing the crystallinity of the samples. Iron oxides precipitated at pH 3 displayed the highest purity and possessed a distinct yellow color suggestive of jarosite, while other paint streaks darkened in color as trace metal impurities increased. The choice to use lower pH for higher quality iron oxides comes with the compromise of reduced iron recovery efficiency. Manganese and nickel did not begin to precipitate out of solution up to pH 7 and thus require increased pH neutralization in the field if natural AMD is found to contain those metals. All pigments developed in this study were found to be adequate for use as

Facile and sustainable synthesis of shaped iron oxide nanoparticles: effect of iron precursor salts on the shapes of iron oxides.

Science.gov (United States)

Sayed, Farheen N; Polshettiwar, Vivek

2015-05-05

A facile and sustainable protocol for synthesis of six different shaped iron oxides is developed. Notably, all the six shapes of iron oxides can be synthesised using exactly same synthetic protocol, by simply changing the precursor iron salts. Several of the synthesised shapes are not reported before. This novel protocol is relatively easy to implement and could contribute to overcome the challenge of obtaining various shaped iron oxides in economical and sustainable manner.

Designing synthetic biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Agapakis, Christina M

2014-03-21

Synthetic biology is frequently defined as the application of engineering design principles to biology. Such principles are intended to streamline the practice of biological engineering, to shorten the time required to design, build, and test synthetic gene networks. This streamlining of iterative design cycles can facilitate the future construction of biological systems for a range of applications in the production of fuels, foods, materials, and medicines. The promise of these potential applications as well as the emphasis on design has prompted critical reflection on synthetic biology from design theorists and practicing designers from many fields, who can bring valuable perspectives to the discipline. While interdisciplinary connections between biologists and engineers have built synthetic biology via the science and the technology of biology, interdisciplinary collaboration with artists, designers, and social theorists can provide insight on the connections between technology and society. Such collaborations can open up new avenues and new principles for research and design, as well as shed new light on the challenging context-dependence-both biological and social-that face living technologies at many scales. This review is inspired by the session titled "Design and Synthetic Biology: Connecting People and Technology" at Synthetic Biology 6.0 and covers a range of literature on design practice in synthetic biology and beyond. Critical engagement with how design is used to shape the discipline opens up new possibilities for how we might design the future of synthetic biology.

Separation of rhodium-103m from ruthenium-103 by solvent extraction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chiu, J.H.; Landolt, R.R.; Kessler, W.V.

1978-01-01

The results for eight replications of the solvent extraction and purification procedures were /sup 103m/Rh yield, 100.9 +- 2.1% and 103 Ru contamination, 0.0%. The use of sodium hypochlorite as the oxidizing agent eliminated the need for fuming with 1:1 H 2 SO 4 to eliminate chlorides as was required when ceric sulfate was used as the oxidizing agent. The optimum pH for extraction of RuO 4 into CCl 4 was determined to be in the range 6.5 to 7.5. A boiling procedure was used to purify the extracted aqueous solution of /sup 103m/Rh

Studies on {sup 99}Mo-{sup 99m}Tc adsorption and elution behaviors using the inorganic sorbent ceric tungstate and conventional organic resins

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

El-Sweify, Fatma H.; Fattah, Alaa El-Din A. Abdel; Aly, Shorouk M.; Ghamry, Mohamed A. [Atomic Energy Authority, Cairo (Egypt). Hot Laboratories Center; El-Sheikh, Ragaa [Zagazig Univ. (Egypt). Chemistry Dept.

2017-09-01

Adsorption behavior of {sup 99}Mo(VI) and {sup 99m}Tc(VII) was studied on ceric tungstate (CeW) and compared with the adsorption on the conventional cation and anion exchangers Dowex-50X8 and AG-2X8, respectively. The studies were carried out under static and dynamic conditions. The effect of contact time and pH on the adsorption was investigated under static conditions. High K{sub d}-values for sorption of {sup 99}Mo(VI) on (CeW) were obtained over the investigated pH range. {sup 99m}Tc was adsorbed with much lower K{sub d}-values. The K{sub d}-values were pH dependent. K{sub d}-values of {sup 99}Mo-adsorption on AG-2X8 were lower than those on (CeW) and vice versa for {sup 99m}Tc. Ionic species of both elements were not adsorbed on Dowex-50X8, indicating the absence of cationic species and the adsorption of both elements on AG-2X8 and (CeW) as anionic species. The loading and elution behaviors of {sup 99}Mo and {sup 99m}Tc on (CeW) were studied using different eluents. {sup 99}Mo remained strongly adsorbed under all conditions whereas {sup 99m}Tc was easily eluted. Adsorption of some fission products, i.e. {sup 95}Zr(IV) and {sup 95}Nb(V), in addition to {sup 123m}Te(IV) and {sup 75}Se(IV), as representatives of their corresponding fission product isotopes, as well as {sup 181}Hf, as probable radioactive contaminant was also studied. Solutions of the ionic species of those metals were loaded in mixtures together with {sup 99}Mo on (CeW) columns. Strong adsorption of those ionic species and {sup 99}Mo on (CeW) was found whereas {sup 99m}Tc was easily eluted. Different eluents were investigated for eluting {sup 99m}Tc from {sup 99}Mo-adsorbed on (CeW).

STUDY OF EPOXIDE DECYCLISATION OF CARYOPHYLENE OXIDE WITH SYNTHETIC ZEOLITE AS CATALYSTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Winarto Haryadi

2010-06-01

Full Text Available The reaction of epoxide ring opening of caryophillene oxide has been done using zeolite H-Y, H-sodalit, and H-ZSM-5 as catalysts. The reactions were done in two types, there were in dioxane solvent at temperature of 110 oC and without solvent at temperature of 175 oC. The catalyst weight was 10 % from caryophillene oxide weight, and the time of reaction was four hours. The product of reaction was analyzed using GC, FTIR, and GC-MS. The reactions of caryophillene oxide in dioxane solvent with the three kinds of zeolites did not give any targeted product. Whereas, the reactions without solvent gave three main products, there was one compound with one group of secondary hidroxyl (secondary alcohol, and two compounds of ketone from caryophillene. The reaction product of caryophillene oxide obtained without using solvent with the three type of catalysts were then compared. Conversion of three main products produced by H-ZSM-5 catalyst, H-sodalit catalyst and H-Y catalyst were 82.11 %, 54.92 % and 38.53 % respectively. For that reason, the transformation of caryophillene oxide using H-ZSM-5 catalyst was considered to be the best selective product. The alcohol product was resulted from reaction between caryophillene oxide and Bronsted acid, and  the ketone products was resulted from the reaction with Lewis acid in zeolite.   Keywords: Epoxide ring opening, HY, H-sodalit and HZSM-5

Freedom and Responsibility in Synthetic Genomics: The Synthetic Yeast Project

OpenAIRE

Sliva, Anna; Yang, Huanming; Boeke, Jef D.; Mathews, Debra J. H.

2015-01-01

First introduced in 2011, the Synthetic Yeast Genome (Sc2.0) Project is a large international synthetic genomics project that will culminate in the first eukaryotic cell (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) with a fully synthetic genome. With collaborators from across the globe and from a range of institutions spanning from do-it-yourself biology (DIYbio) to commercial enterprises, it is important that all scientists working on this project are cognizant of the ethical and policy issues associated with...

Freedom and Responsibility in Synthetic Genomics: The Synthetic Yeast Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Sliva, Anna; Yang, Huanming; Boeke, Jef D; Mathews, Debra J H

2015-08-01

First introduced in 2011, the Synthetic Yeast Genome (Sc2.0) PROJECT is a large international synthetic genomics project that will culminate in the first eukaryotic cell (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) with a fully synthetic genome. With collaborators from across the globe and from a range of institutions spanning from do-it-yourself biology (DIYbio) to commercial enterprises, it is important that all scientists working on this project are cognizant of the ethical and policy issues associated with this field of research and operate under a common set of principles. In this commentary, we survey the current ethics and regulatory landscape of synthetic biology and present the Sc2.0 Statement of Ethics and Governance to which all members of the project adhere. This statement focuses on four aspects of the Sc2.0 PROJECT: societal benefit, intellectual property, safety, and self-governance. We propose that such project-level agreements are an important, valuable, and flexible model of self-regulation for similar global, large-scale synthetic biology projects in order to maximize the benefits and minimize potential harms. Copyright © 2015 by the Genetics Society of America.

Energy System Analysis of Solid Oxide Electrolysis cells for Synthetic Fuel Production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ridjan, Iva; Mathiesen, Brian Vad; Connolly, David

2013-01-01

When restricting energy production to renewable energy sources, biomass, sun and wind energy are the pillars of 100% renewable energy system after implementing energy savings. Biomass resources are limited and the sustainable use of them needs to be prioritized. Future energy systems will require...... that require high energy density fuels or reused for power generation. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of fuel production cost for two types of synthetic fuels – methanol and methane, and comparable costs of biodiesel, bioethanol and biogas....

Highly tough and transparent layered composites of nanocellulose and synthetic silicate

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Chun-Nan; Yang, Quanling; Takeuchi, Miyuki; Saito, Tsuguyuki; Isogai, Akira

2013-12-01

A highly tough and transparent film material was prepared from synthetic saponite (SPN) nanoplatelets of low aspect ratios and nanofibrillar cellulose. The nanofibrillar cellulose was chemically modified by topological surface oxidation using 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyl-1-oxyl (TEMPO) as a catalyst. Both synthetic SPN nanoplatelets and TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibrils (TOCNs) have abundant negative charges in high densities on their surfaces and are dispersed in water at the individual nanoelement level. Layered nanocomposite structures of the SPN nanoplatelets and TOCNs were formed through a simple cast-drying process of the mixed aqueous dispersions. The TOCN/SPN composites with 0-50% w/w SPN content were optically transparent. Mechanical properties of the TOCN/SPN composites varied depending on the SPN content. The composite with 10% w/w SPN content (5.6% volume fraction) exhibited characteristic mechanical properties: Young's modulus of 14 GPa, tensile strength of 420 MPa, and strain-to-failure of 10%. The work of fracture of the composites increased from 4 to 30 MJ m-3 - or by more than 700% - as the SPN content was increased from 0 to 10% w/w. This surprising improvement in toughness was interpreted based on a model for fracture of polymer composites reinforced with low-aspect-ratio platelets.A highly tough and transparent film material was prepared from synthetic saponite (SPN) nanoplatelets of low aspect ratios and nanofibrillar cellulose. The nanofibrillar cellulose was chemically modified by topological surface oxidation using 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyl-1-oxyl (TEMPO) as a catalyst. Both synthetic SPN nanoplatelets and TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibrils (TOCNs) have abundant negative charges in high densities on their surfaces and are dispersed in water at the individual nanoelement level. Layered nanocomposite structures of the SPN nanoplatelets and TOCNs were formed through a simple cast-drying process of the mixed aqueous dispersions. The

All-oxide-based synthetic antiferromagnets exhibiting layer-resolved magnetization reversal

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Binbin; Xu, Haoran; Ma, Chao; Mattauch, Stefan; Lan, Da; Jin, Feng; Guo, Zhuang; Wan, Siyuan; Chen, Pingfan; Gao, Guanyin; Chen, Feng; Su, Yixi; Wu, Wenbin

2017-07-01

Synthesizing antiferromagnets with correlated oxides has been challenging, owing partly to the markedly degraded ferromagnetism of the magnetic layer at nanoscale thicknesses. Here we report on the engineering of an antiferromagnetic interlayer exchange coupling (AF-IEC) between ultrathin but ferromagnetic La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 layers across an insulating CaRu1/2Ti1/2O3 spacer. The layer-resolved magnetic switching leads to sharp steplike hysteresis loops with magnetization plateaus depending on the repetition number of the stacking bilayers. The magnetization configurations can be switched at moderate fields of hundreds of oersted. Moreover, the AF-IEC can also be realized with an alternative magnetic layer of La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 that possesses a Curie temperature near room temperature. The findings will add functionalities to devices with correlated-oxide interfaces.

Synthetic Biology of Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA).

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, De-Chuan; Chen, Guo-Qiang

Microbial polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are a family of biodegradable and biocompatible polyesters which have been extensively studied using synthetic biology and metabolic engineering methods for improving production and for widening its diversity. Synthetic biology has allowed PHA to become composition controllable random copolymers, homopolymers, and block copolymers. Recent developments showed that it is possible to establish a microbial platform for producing not only random copolymers with controllable monomers and their ratios but also structurally defined homopolymers and block copolymers. This was achieved by engineering the genome of Pseudomonas putida or Pseudomonas entomophiles to weaken the β-oxidation and in situ fatty acid synthesis pathways, so that a fatty acid fed to the bacteria maintains its original chain length and structures when incorporated into the PHA chains. The engineered bacterium allows functional groups in a fatty acid to be introduced into PHA, forming functional PHA, which, upon grafting, generates endless PHA variety. Recombinant Escherichia coli also succeeded in producing efficiently poly(3-hydroxypropionate) or P3HP, the strongest member of PHA. Synthesis pathways of P3HP and its copolymer P3HB3HP of 3-hydroxybutyrate and 3-hydroxypropionate were assembled respectively to allow their synthesis from glucose. CRISPRi was also successfully used to manipulate simultaneously multiple genes and control metabolic flux in E. coli to obtain a series of copolymer P3HB4HB of 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB) and 4-hydroxybutyrate (4HB). The bacterial shapes were successfully engineered for enhanced PHA accumulation.

Synthetic environments

Science.gov (United States)

Lukes, George E.; Cain, Joel M.

1996-02-01

The Advanced Distributed Simulation (ADS) Synthetic Environments Program seeks to create robust virtual worlds from operational terrain and environmental data sources of sufficient fidelity and currency to interact with the real world. While some applications can be met by direct exploitation of standard digital terrain data, more demanding applications -- particularly those support operations 'close to the ground' -- are well-served by emerging capabilities for 'value-adding' by the user working with controlled imagery. For users to rigorously refine and exploit controlled imagery within functionally different workstations they must have a shared framework to allow interoperability within and between these environments in terms of passing image and object coordinates and other information using a variety of validated sensor models. The Synthetic Environments Program is now being expanded to address rapid construction of virtual worlds with research initiatives in digital mapping, softcopy workstations, and cartographic image understanding. The Synthetic Environments Program is also participating in a joint initiative for a sensor model applications programer's interface (API) to ensure that a common controlled imagery exploitation framework is available to all researchers, developers and users. This presentation provides an introduction to ADS and the associated requirements for synthetic environments to support synthetic theaters of war. It provides a technical rationale for exploring applications of image understanding technology to automated cartography in support of ADS and related programs benefitting from automated analysis of mapping, earth resources and reconnaissance imagery. And it provides an overview and status of the joint initiative for a sensor model API.

Activity of the Antioxidant Defense System in a Typical Bioinsecticide-and Synthetic Insecticide-treated Cowpea Storage Beetle F. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ayodele O. Kolawole

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The non-enzymatic and enzymatic antioxidant defense systems play a major role in detoxification of pro-oxidant endobiotics and xenobiotics. The possible involvement of beetle non-enzymatic [α-tocopherol, glutathione (GSH, and ascorbic acid] and enzymatic [catalase (CAT, superoxide dismutase (SOD, peroxidase (POX, and polyphenol oxidase (PPO] antioxidant defense system on the insecticidal activity of synthetic insecticides (cypermethrin, 2,2-dicholorovinyl dimethyl phosphate, and λ-cyhalothrin and ethanolic plant extracts of Tithonia diversifolia, Cyperus rotundus, Hyptis suaveolens leaves , and Jatropha Curcas seeds was investigated. 2,2-Dicholorovinyl dimethyl phosphate (DDVP; 200 ppm, LC 50 = 13.24 ppm and T. diversifolia (20,000 ppm resulted in 100% beetle mortality at 96-hour post-treatment. The post-treatments significantly increased the beetle α-tocopherol and GSH contents. Activities of CAT, SOD, POX, and PPO were modulated by the synthetic insecticides and bioinsecticides to diminish the adverse effect of the chemical stresses. Quantitative and qualitative allelochemical compositions of bioinsecticides and chemical structure of synthetic insecticides possibly account and for modulation of their respective enzyme activities. Altogether, oxidative stress was enormous enough to cause maladaptation in insects. This study established that oxidative imbalance created could be the molecular basis of the efficacy of both insecticides and bio-insecticides. Two, there was development of functional but inadequate antioxidant defense mechanism in the beetle.

Iron oxides and their applications in catalytic processes: a review

OpenAIRE

Oliveira, Luiz C. A.; Fabris, José D.; Pereira, Márcio C.

2013-01-01

A review of most of the reported studies on the use of iron oxides as catalyst in specific processes, namely Haber-Bosch reaction, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, Fenton oxidation and photolytic molecular splitting of water to produce gaseous hydrogen, was carried out. An essential overview is thus presented, intending to address the fundamental meaning, as well as the corresponding chemical mechanisms, and perspectives on new technological potentialities of natural and synthetic iron oxides, more...

Performance analysis of a continuous serpentine flow reactor for electrochemical oxidation of synthetic and real textile wastewater: Energy consumption, mass transfer coefficient and economic analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Pillai, Indu M Sasidharan; Gupta, Ashok K

2017-05-15

A continuous flow electrochemical reactor was developed, and its application was tested for the treatment of textile wastewater. A parallel plate configuration with serpentine flow was chosen for the continuous flow reactor. Uniparameter optimization was carried out for electrochemical oxidation of synthetic and real textile wastewater (collected from the inlet of the effluent treatment plant). Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) removal efficiency of 90% was achieved for synthetic textile wastewater (initial COD - 780 mg L -1 ) at a flow rate of 500 mL h -1 (retention time of 6 h) and a current density of 1.15 mA cm -2 and the energy consumption for the degradation was 9.2 kWh (kg COD) -1 . The complete degradation of real textile wastewater (initial COD of 368 mg L -1 ) was obtained at a current density of 1.15 mA cm -2 , NaCl concentration of 1 g L -1 and retention time of 6 h. Energy consumption and mass transfer coefficient of the reactions were calculated. The continuous flow reactor performed better than batch reactor with reference to energy consumption and economy. The overall treatment cost for complete COD removal of real textile wastewater was 5.83 USD m -3 . Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Opportunities in plant synthetic biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, Charis; Martin, Lisa; Bastow, Ruth

2014-05-01

Synthetic biology is an emerging field uniting scientists from all disciplines with the aim of designing or re-designing biological processes. Initially, synthetic biology breakthroughs came from microbiology, chemistry, physics, computer science, materials science, mathematics, and engineering disciplines. A transition to multicellular systems is the next logical step for synthetic biologists and plants will provide an ideal platform for this new phase of research. This meeting report highlights some of the exciting plant synthetic biology projects, and tools and resources, presented and discussed at the 2013 GARNet workshop on plant synthetic biology.

From noise to synthetic nucleoli: can synthetic biology achieve new insights?

Science.gov (United States)

Ciechonska, Marta; Grob, Alice; Isalan, Mark

2016-04-18

Synthetic biology aims to re-organise and control biological components to make functional devices. Along the way, the iterative process of designing and testing gene circuits has the potential to yield many insights into the functioning of the underlying chassis of cells. Thus, synthetic biology is converging with disciplines such as systems biology and even classical cell biology, to give a new level of predictability to gene expression, cell metabolism and cellular signalling networks. This review gives an overview of the contributions that synthetic biology has made in understanding gene expression, in terms of cell heterogeneity (noise), the coupling of growth and energy usage to expression, and spatiotemporal considerations. We mainly compare progress in bacterial and mammalian systems, which have some of the most-developed engineering frameworks. Overall, one view of synthetic biology can be neatly summarised as "creating in order to understand."

A living foundry for Synthetic Biological Materials: A synthetic biology roadmap to new advanced materials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosalind A. Le Feuvre

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Society is on the cusp of harnessing recent advances in synthetic biology to discover new bio-based products and routes to their affordable and sustainable manufacture. This is no more evident than in the discovery and manufacture of Synthetic Biological Materials, where synthetic biology has the capacity to usher in a new Materials from Biology era that will revolutionise the discovery and manufacture of innovative synthetic biological materials. These will encompass novel, smart, functionalised and hybrid materials for diverse applications whose discovery and routes to bio-production will be stimulated by the fusion of new technologies positioned across physical, digital and biological spheres. This article, which developed from an international workshop held in Manchester, United Kingdom, in 2017 [1], sets out to identify opportunities in the new materials from biology era. It considers requirements, early understanding and foresight of the challenges faced in delivering a Discovery to Manufacturing Pipeline for synthetic biological materials using synthetic biology approaches. This challenge spans the complete production cycle from intelligent and predictive design, fabrication, evaluation and production of synthetic biological materials to new ways of bringing these products to market. Pathway opportunities are identified that will help foster expertise sharing and infrastructure development to accelerate the delivery of a new generation of synthetic biological materials and the leveraging of existing investments in synthetic biology and advanced materials research to achieve this goal. Keywords: Synthetic biology, Materials, Biological materials, Biomaterials, Advanced materials

Synthetic biology and metabolic engineering.

Science.gov (United States)

Stephanopoulos, Gregory

2012-11-16

Metabolic engineering emerged 20 years ago as the discipline occupied with the directed modification of metabolic pathways for the microbial synthesis of various products. As such, it deals with the engineering (design, construction, and optimization) of native as well as non-natural routes of product synthesis, aided in this task by the availability of synthetic DNA, the core enabling technology of synthetic biology. The two fields, however, only partially overlap in their interest in pathway engineering. While fabrication of biobricks, synthetic cells, genetic circuits, and nonlinear cell dynamics, along with pathway engineering, have occupied researchers in the field of synthetic biology, the sum total of these areas does not constitute a coherent definition of synthetic biology with a distinct intellectual foundation and well-defined areas of application. This paper reviews the origins of the two fields and advances two distinct paradigms for each of them: that of unit operations for metabolic engineering and electronic circuits for synthetic biology. In this context, metabolic engineering is about engineering cell factories for the biological manufacturing of chemical and pharmaceutical products, whereas the main focus of synthetic biology is fundamental biological research facilitated by the use of synthetic DNA and genetic circuits.

Rapid-micro-determination of iodine in water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Godin, J.M.; Archimbaud, M.

1967-03-01

A method is described for detecting one microgram of iodine per litre of water. After having tested manually volumetric and colorimetric methods, the authors chose a kinetic method. Reduction of arsenious oxide by ceric sulphate is catalyzed by the presence of small quantities of iodine. Failure of manual tests led to the adoption of a Technicon auto-analyzer for carrying out the determination; this improves the reproducibility of the method and gives a sensitivity of about 1 microgram of iodine per litre with an accuracy of ±15 per cent. (authors) [fr

Synthetic biological networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Archer, Eric; Süel, Gürol M

2013-01-01

Despite their obvious relationship and overlap, the field of physics is blessed with many insightful laws, while such laws are sadly absent in biology. Here we aim to discuss how the rise of a more recent field known as synthetic biology may allow us to more directly test hypotheses regarding the possible design principles of natural biological networks and systems. In particular, this review focuses on synthetic gene regulatory networks engineered to perform specific functions or exhibit particular dynamic behaviors. Advances in synthetic biology may set the stage to uncover the relationship of potential biological principles to those developed in physics. (review article)

Synthesis of modified gum tragacanth/graphene oxide composite hydrogel for heavy metal ions removal and preparation of silver nanocomposite for antibacterial activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Sahraei, Razieh; Ghaemy, Mousa

2017-02-10

New composite hydrogels were synthesized based on gum tragacanth (GT) carbohydrate and graphene oxide (GO). GT was sulfonic acid-functionalized and cross-linked by using 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AMPS) and N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) monomers and ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN) as an initiator. The prepared hydrogels were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FT-IR), field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Adsorption process for removal of heavy metal ions has followed the pseudo-first-order kinetic model and fitted well with the Langmuir model. The maximum adsorption capacity (Q m ) was 142.50, 112.50 and 132.12mgg -1 for Pb(II), Cd(II), and Ag(I), respectively. The removal percentage decreased slightly after several adsorption/desorption cycles. The adsorbed Ag(I) ions in hydrogel were transformed to Ag 0 nanoparticles (with a narrow distribution and mean size of 13.0nm) by using Achillea millefolium flower extract. The antibacterial performance of the Ag 0 nanocomposite hydrogel was also investigated. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Anodic oxidation with doped diamond electrodes: a new advanced oxidation process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kraft, Alexander; Stadelmann, Manuela; Blaschke, Manfred

2003-01-01

Boron-doped diamond anodes allow to directly produce OH· radicals from water electrolysis with very high current efficiencies. This has been explained by the very high overvoltage for oxygen production and many other anodic electrode processes on diamond anodes. Additionally, the boron-doped diamond electrodes exhibit a high mechanical and chemical stability. Anodic oxidation with diamond anodes is a new advanced oxidation process (AOP) with many advantages compared to other known chemical and photochemical AOPs. The present work reports on the use of diamond anodes for the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal from several industrial wastewaters and from two synthetic wastewaters with malic acid and ethylenediaminetetraacetic (EDTA) acid. Current efficiencies for the COD removal between 85 and 100% have been found. The formation and subsequent removal of by-products of the COD oxidation has been investigated for the first time. Economical considerations of this new AOP are included

A living foundry for Synthetic Biological Materials: A synthetic biology roadmap to new advanced materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Le Feuvre, Rosalind A; Scrutton, Nigel S

2018-06-01

Society is on the cusp of harnessing recent advances in synthetic biology to discover new bio-based products and routes to their affordable and sustainable manufacture. This is no more evident than in the discovery and manufacture of Synthetic Biological Materials , where synthetic biology has the capacity to usher in a new Materials from Biology era that will revolutionise the discovery and manufacture of innovative synthetic biological materials. These will encompass novel, smart, functionalised and hybrid materials for diverse applications whose discovery and routes to bio-production will be stimulated by the fusion of new technologies positioned across physical, digital and biological spheres. This article, which developed from an international workshop held in Manchester, United Kingdom, in 2017 [1], sets out to identify opportunities in the new materials from biology era. It considers requirements, early understanding and foresight of the challenges faced in delivering a Discovery to Manufacturing Pipeline for synthetic biological materials using synthetic biology approaches. This challenge spans the complete production cycle from intelligent and predictive design, fabrication, evaluation and production of synthetic biological materials to new ways of bringing these products to market. Pathway opportunities are identified that will help foster expertise sharing and infrastructure development to accelerate the delivery of a new generation of synthetic biological materials and the leveraging of existing investments in synthetic biology and advanced materials research to achieve this goal.

Synthetic biology and occupational risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Howard, John; Murashov, Vladimir; Schulte, Paul

2017-03-01

Synthetic biology is an emerging interdisciplinary field of biotechnology that involves applying the principles of engineering and chemical design to biological systems. Biosafety professionals have done an excellent job in addressing research laboratory safety as synthetic biology and gene editing have emerged from the larger field of biotechnology. Despite these efforts, risks posed by synthetic biology are of increasing concern as research procedures scale up to industrial processes in the larger bioeconomy. A greater number and variety of workers will be exposed to commercial synthetic biology risks in the future, including risks to a variety of workers from the use of lentiviral vectors as gene transfer devices. There is a need to review and enhance current protection measures in the field of synthetic biology, whether in experimental laboratories where new advances are being researched, in health care settings where treatments using viral vectors as gene delivery systems are increasingly being used, or in the industrial bioeconomy. Enhanced worker protection measures should include increased injury and illness surveillance of the synthetic biology workforce; proactive risk assessment and management of synthetic biology products; research on the relative effectiveness of extrinsic and intrinsic biocontainment methods; specific safety guidance for synthetic biology industrial processes; determination of appropriate medical mitigation measures for lentiviral vector exposure incidents; and greater awareness and involvement in synthetic biology safety by the general occupational safety and health community as well as by government occupational safety and health research and regulatory agencies.

Synthetic Biology and Personalized Medicine

Science.gov (United States)

Jain, K.K.

2013-01-01

Synthetic biology, application of synthetic chemistry to biology, is a broad term that covers the engineering of biological systems with structures and functions not found in nature to process information, manipulate chemicals, produce energy, maintain cell environment and enhance human health. Synthetic biology devices contribute not only to improve our understanding of disease mechanisms, but also provide novel diagnostic tools. Methods based on synthetic biology enable the design of novel strategies for the treatment of cancer, immune diseases metabolic disorders and infectious diseases as well as the production of cheap drugs. The potential of synthetic genome, using an expanded genetic code that is designed for specific drug synthesis as well as delivery and activation of the drug in vivo by a pathological signal, was already pointed out during a lecture delivered at Kuwait University in 2005. Of two approaches to synthetic biology, top-down and bottom-up, the latter is more relevant to the development of personalized medicines as it provides more flexibility in constructing a partially synthetic cell from basic building blocks for a desired task. PMID:22907209

Tracking the emergence of synthetic biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Shapira, Philip; Kwon, Seokbeom; Youtie, Jan

2017-01-01

Synthetic biology is an emerging domain that combines biological and engineering concepts and which has seen rapid growth in research, innovation, and policy interest in recent years. This paper contributes to efforts to delineate this emerging domain by presenting a newly constructed bibliometric definition of synthetic biology. Our approach is dimensioned from a core set of papers in synthetic biology, using procedures to obtain benchmark synthetic biology publication records, extract keywords from these benchmark records, and refine the keywords, supplemented with articles published in dedicated synthetic biology journals. We compare our search strategy with other recent bibliometric approaches to define synthetic biology, using a common source of publication data for the period from 2000 to 2015. The paper details the rapid growth and international spread of research in synthetic biology in recent years, demonstrates that diverse research disciplines are contributing to the multidisciplinary development of synthetic biology research, and visualizes this by profiling synthetic biology research on the map of science. We further show the roles of a relatively concentrated set of research sponsors in funding the growth and trajectories of synthetic biology. In addition to discussing these analyses, the paper notes limitations and suggests lines for further work.

Studies of Reduced Graphene Oxide and Graphite Oxide in the Aspect of Their Possible Application in Gas Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Drewniak, Sabina; Muzyka, Roksana; Stolarczyk, Agnieszka; Pustelny, Tadeusz; Kotyczka-Morańska, Michalina; Setkiewicz, Maciej

2016-01-01

The paper presents the results of investigations on resistance structures based on graphite oxide (GRO) and graphene oxide (rGO). The subject matter of the investigations was thaw the sensitivity of the tested structures was affected by hydrogen, nitrogen dioxide and carbon dioxide. The experiments were performed at a temperature range from 30 °C to 150 °C in two carrier gases: nitrogen and synthetic air. The measurements were also aimed at characterization of the graphite oxide and graphene oxide. In our measurements we used (among others) techniques such as: Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM); Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM); Raman Spectroscopy (RS); Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray Photoelectron Microscopy (XPS). The data resulting from the characterizations of graphite oxide and graphene oxide have made it possible to interpret the obtained results from the point of view of physicochemical changes occurring in these structures. PMID:26784198

Studies of Reduced Graphene Oxide and Graphite Oxide in the Aspect of Their Possible Application in Gas Sensors.

Science.gov (United States)

Drewniak, Sabina; Muzyka, Roksana; Stolarczyk, Agnieszka; Pustelny, Tadeusz; Kotyczka-Morańska, Michalina; Setkiewicz, Maciej

2016-01-15

The paper presents the results of investigations on resistance structures based on graphite oxide (GRO) and graphene oxide (rGO). The subject matter of the investigations was thaw the sensitivity of the tested structures was affected by hydrogen, nitrogen dioxide and carbon dioxide. The experiments were performed at a temperature range from 30 °C to 150 °C in two carrier gases: nitrogen and synthetic air. The measurements were also aimed at characterization of the graphite oxide and graphene oxide. In our measurements we used (among others) techniques such as: Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM); Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM); Raman Spectroscopy (RS); Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray Photoelectron Microscopy (XPS). The data resulting from the characterizations of graphite oxide and graphene oxide have made it possible to interpret the obtained results from the point of view of physicochemical changes occurring in these structures.

Printability of Synthetic Papers by Electrophotography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rozália Szentgyörgyvölgyi

2010-04-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with the printability of synthetic papers by the electrophotography technique. Prints of cmyk colour fields from 20% to 100% raster tone values were printed on three types of synthetic papers (one film synthetic paper and two fiber synthetic papers. The investigation of the appearance included densitometric measurement of the cmyk prints. The results have shown differences in the optical density and optical tone value between cmyk prints made on various synthetic papers. The highest optical density and the increase of the optical tone value were observed on the film synthetic paper, where cmyk prints were more saturated. The highest abrasion resistance of cmyk prints was obtained from the fibre synthetic paper.

Evolvable synthetic neural system

Science.gov (United States)

Curtis, Steven A. (Inventor)

2009-01-01

An evolvable synthetic neural system includes an evolvable neural interface operably coupled to at least one neural basis function. Each neural basis function includes an evolvable neural interface operably coupled to a heuristic neural system to perform high-level functions and an autonomic neural system to perform low-level functions. In some embodiments, the evolvable synthetic neural system is operably coupled to one or more evolvable synthetic neural systems in a hierarchy.

Asbestos Induces Oxidative Stress and Activation of Nrf2 Signaling in Murine Macrophages: Chemopreventive Role of the Synthetic Lignan Secoisolariciresinol Diglucoside (LGM2605

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ralph A. Pietrofesa

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The interaction of asbestos fibers with macrophages generates harmful reactive oxygen species (ROS and subsequent oxidative cell damage that are key processes linked to malignancy. Secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG is a non-toxic, flaxseed-derived pluripotent compound that has antioxidant properties and may thus function as a chemopreventive agent for asbestos-induced mesothelioma. We thus evaluated synthetic SDG (LGM2605 in asbestos-exposed, elicited murine peritoneal macrophages as an in vitro model of tissue phagocytic response to the presence of asbestos in the pleural space. Murine peritoneal macrophages (MFs were exposed to crocidolite asbestos fibers (20 µg/cm2 and evaluated at various times post exposure for cytotoxicity, ROS generation, malondialdehyde (MDA, and levels of 8-iso Prostaglandin F2α (8-isoP. We then evaluated the ability of LGM2605 to mitigate asbestos-induced oxidative stress by administering LGM2605 (50 µM 4-h prior to asbestos exposure. We observed a significant (p < 0.0001, time-dependent increase in asbestos-induced cytotoxicity, ROS generation, and the release of MDA and 8-iso Prostaglandin F2α, markers of lipid peroxidation, which increased linearly over time. LGM2605 treatment significantly (p < 0.0001 reduced asbestos-induced cytotoxicity and ROS generation, while decreasing levels of MDA and 8-isoP by 71%–88% and 41%–73%, respectively. Importantly, exposure to asbestos fibers induced cell protective defenses, such as cellular Nrf2 activation and the expression of phase II antioxidant enzymes, HO-1 and Nqo1 that were further enhanced by LGM2605 treatment. LGM2605 boosted antioxidant defenses, as well as reduced asbestos-induced ROS generation and markers of oxidative stress in murine peritoneal macrophages, supporting its possible use as a chemoprevention agent in the development of asbestos-induced malignant mesothelioma.

Application of advanced oxidation processes for removing salicylic acid from synthetic wastewaters

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Djalma; Ribeiro; da; Silva; Carlos; A.Martinez-Huítle

2010-01-01

In this study,advanced oxidation processes(AOPs) such as anodic oxidation(AO),UV/H_2O_2 and Fenton processes(FP) were investigated for the degradation of salicylic acid(SA) in lab-scale experiments.Boron-doped diamond(BDD) film electrodes using Ta as substrates were employed for AO of SA.In the case of FP and UV/H_2O_2,most favorable experimental conditions were determined for each process and these were used for comparing with AO process.The study showed that the FP was the most effective process under ...

Synthetic Cathinones ("Bath Salts")

Science.gov (United States)

... Alcohol Club Drugs Cocaine Fentanyl Hallucinogens Inhalants Heroin Marijuana MDMA (Ecstasy/Molly) Methamphetamine Opioids Over-the-Counter Medicines Prescription Medicines Steroids (Anabolic) Synthetic Cannabinoids (K2/Spice) Synthetic Cathinones (Bath Salts) Tobacco/ ...

Stability of a novel synthetic amorphous manganese oxide in contrasting soils

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Ettler, V.; Knytl, V.; Komárek, M.; Della Puppa, L.; Bordas, F.; Mihaljevič, M.; Klementová, Mariana; Šebek, O.

2014-01-01

Roč. 214, FEB (2014), s. 2-9 ISSN 0016-7061 Institutional support: RVO:61388980 Keywords : Amorphous manganese oxide * Stability * Soils * Chemical stabilization * Pollution Subject RIV: CA - Inorganic Chemistry Impact factor: 2.772, year: 2014

Hydrogen Production via Synthetic Gas by Biomass/Oil Partial Oxidation

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hanika, Jiří; Lederer, J.; Tukač, V.; Veselý, Václav; Kováč, D.

176-177, - (2011), s. 286-290 ISSN 1385-8947. [International Conference on Chemical Reactors CHEMREACTOR-19 /19./. Vienna, 05.09.2010-09.09.2010] R&D Projects: GA MPO 2A-2TP1/024 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40720504 Keywords : hydrogen * biomass * partial oxidation Subject RIV: CI - Industrial Chemistry, Chemical Engineering Impact factor: 3.461, year: 2011

Recent Advances in Heterogeneous Photocatalytic Decolorization of Synthetic Dyes

Science.gov (United States)

Muhd Julkapli, Nurhidayatullaili; Bagheri, Samira; Bee Abd Hamid, Sharifah

2014-01-01

During the process and operation of the dyes, the wastes produced were commonly found to contain organic and inorganic impurities leading to risks in the ecosystem and biodiversity with the resultant impact on the environment. Improper effluent disposal in aqueous ecosystems leads to reduction of sunlight penetration which in turn diminishes photosynthetic activity, resulting in acute toxic effects on the aquatic flora/fauna and dissolved oxygen concentration. Recently, photodegradation of various synthetic dyes has been studied in terms of their absorbance and the reduction of oxygen content by changes in the concentration of the dye. The advantages that make photocatalytic techniques superior to traditional methods are the ability to remove contaminates in the range of ppb, no generation of polycyclic compounds, higher speed, and lower cost. Semiconductor metal oxides, typically TiO2, ZnO, SnO, NiO, Cu2O, Fe3O4, and also CdS have been utilized as photocatalyst for their nontoxic nature, high photosensitivity, wide band gap and high stability. Various process parameters like photocatalyst dose, pH and initial dye concentrations have been varied and highlighted. Research focused on surface modification of semiconductors and mixed oxide semiconductors by doping them with noble metals (Pt, Pd, Au, and Ag) and organic matter (C, N, Cl, and F) showed enhanced dye degradation compared to corresponding native semiconductors. This paper reviews recent advances in heterogeneous photocatalytic decolorization for the removal of synthetic dyes from water and wastewater. Thus, the main core highlighted in this paper is the critical selection of semiconductors for photocatalysis based on the chemical, physical, and selective nature of the poisoning dyes. PMID:25054183

Recent Advances in Heterogeneous Photocatalytic Decolorization of Synthetic Dyes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nurhidayatullaili Muhd Julkapli

2014-01-01

Full Text Available During the process and operation of the dyes, the wastes produced were commonly found to contain organic and inorganic impurities leading to risks in the ecosystem and biodiversity with the resultant impact on the environment. Improper effluent disposal in aqueous ecosystems leads to reduction of sunlight penetration which in turn diminishes photosynthetic activity, resulting in acute toxic effects on the aquatic flora/fauna and dissolved oxygen concentration. Recently, photodegradation of various synthetic dyes has been studied in terms of their absorbance and the reduction of oxygen content by changes in the concentration of the dye. The advantages that make photocatalytic techniques superior to traditional methods are the ability to remove contaminates in the range of ppb, no generation of polycyclic compounds, higher speed, and lower cost. Semiconductor metal oxides, typically TiO2, ZnO, SnO, NiO, Cu2O, Fe3O4, and also CdS have been utilized as photocatalyst for their nontoxic nature, high photosensitivity, wide band gap and high stability. Various process parameters like photocatalyst dose, pH and initial dye concentrations have been varied and highlighted. Research focused on surface modification of semiconductors and mixed oxide semiconductors by doping them with noble metals (Pt, Pd, Au, and Ag and organic matter (C, N, Cl, and F showed enhanced dye degradation compared to corresponding native semiconductors. This paper reviews recent advances in heterogeneous photocatalytic decolorization for the removal of synthetic dyes from water and wastewater. Thus, the main core highlighted in this paper is the critical selection of semiconductors for photocatalysis based on the chemical, physical, and selective nature of the poisoning dyes.

Molecular Imaging in Synthetic Biology, and Synthetic Biology in Molecular Imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilad, Assaf A; Shapiro, Mikhail G

2017-06-01

Biomedical synthetic biology is an emerging field in which cells are engineered at the genetic level to carry out novel functions with relevance to biomedical and industrial applications. This approach promises new treatments, imaging tools, and diagnostics for diseases ranging from gastrointestinal inflammatory syndromes to cancer, diabetes, and neurodegeneration. As these cellular technologies undergo pre-clinical and clinical development, it is becoming essential to monitor their location and function in vivo, necessitating appropriate molecular imaging strategies, and therefore, we have created an interest group within the World Molecular Imaging Society focusing on synthetic biology and reporter gene technologies. Here, we highlight recent advances in biomedical synthetic biology, including bacterial therapy, immunotherapy, and regenerative medicine. We then discuss emerging molecular imaging approaches to facilitate in vivo applications, focusing on reporter genes for noninvasive modalities such as magnetic resonance, ultrasound, photoacoustic imaging, bioluminescence, and radionuclear imaging. Because reporter genes can be incorporated directly into engineered genetic circuits, they are particularly well suited to imaging synthetic biological constructs, and developing them provides opportunities for creative molecular and genetic engineering.

New designer drugs (synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones): review of literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Cottencin, Olivier; Rolland, Benjamin; Karila, Laurent

2014-01-01

New designer drugs (synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones) are new "legal highs" that are sold online for recreational public or private use. Synthetic cannabinoids are psychoactive herbal and chemical products that mimic the effects of cannabis when used. These drugs are available on the Internet or in head shops as incense or air fresheners to circumvent the law. Cathinone is a naturally occurring beta-ketone amphetamine analog found in the leaves of the Catha edulis plant. Synthetic cathinones are phenylalkylamine derivatives that may possess amphetamine-like properties. These drugs are sold online as bath salts. Designer drugs are often labeled as "not for human consumption" to circumvent drug abuse legislation. The absence of legal risks, the ease of obtaining these drugs, the moderate cost, and the availability via the Internet are the main features that attract users, but the number of intoxicated people presenting with emergencies is increasing. There is evidence that negative health and social consequences may affect recreational and chronic users. The addictive potential of designer drugs is not negligible.

Facile synthesis of iron oxides/reduced graphene oxide composites: application for electromagnetic wave absorption at high temperature.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Lili; Yu, Xinxin; Hu, Hongrui; Li, Yang; Wu, Mingzai; Wang, Zhongzhu; Li, Guang; Sun, Zhaoqi; Chen, Changle

2015-03-19

Iron oxides/reduced graphene oxide composites were synthesized by facile thermochemical reactions of graphite oxide and FeSO4 · 7H2O. By adjusting reaction temperature, α-Fe2O3/reduced graphene oxide and Fe3O4/reduced graphene oxide composites can be obtained conveniently. Graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide sheets were demonstrated to regulate the phase transition from α-Fe2O3 to Fe3O4 via γ-Fe2O3, which was reported for the first time. The hydroxyl groups attached on the graphene oxide sheets and H2 gas generated during the annealing of graphene oxide are believed to play an important role during these phase transformations. These samples showed good electromagnetic wave absorption performance due to their electromagnetic complementary effect. These samples possess much better electromagnetic wave absorption properties than the mixture of separately prepared Fe3O4 with rGO, suggesting the crucial role of synthetic method in determining the product properties. Also, these samples perform much better than commercial absorbers. Most importantly, the great stability of these composites is highly advantageous for applications as electromagnetic wave absorption materials at high temperatures.

Carbothermal reduction of Ti-modified IRMOF-3: an adaptable synthetic method to support catalytic nanoparticles on carbon.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jongsik; McNamara, Nicholas D; Her, Theresa H; Hicks, Jason C

2013-11-13

This work describes a novel method for the preparation of titanium oxide nanoparticles supported on amorphous carbon with nanoporosity (Ti/NC) via the post-synthetic modification of a Zn-based MOF with an amine functionality, IRMOF-3, with titanium isopropoxide followed by its carbothermal pyrolysis. This material exhibited high purity, high surface area (>1000 m(2)/g), and a high dispersion of metal oxide nanoparticles while maintaining a small particle size (~4 nm). The material was shown to be a promising catalyst for oxidative desulfurization of diesel using dibenzothiophene as a model compound as it exhibited enhanced catalytic activity as compared with titanium oxide supported on activated carbon via the conventional incipient wetness impregnation method. The formation mechanism of Ti/NC was also proposed based on results obtained when the carbothermal reduction temperature was varied.

Current status of synthetic epikeratoplasty.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, K P; Hanna, K; Waring, G O; Gipson, I; Liu, Y; Gailitis, R P; Johnson-Wint, B; Green, K

1991-01-01

Many of the deficiencies with human tissue epikeratoplasty might be improved by the use of a suitable synthetic lenticule. Potential biomaterials for epikeratoplasty include collagen (types I, III, or IV), collagen-hydrogel copolymers, bioactive synthetics, and coated hydrogels. The biomaterial must be engineered to achieve strict specifications of optical clarity, support of epithelial migration and adhesion, permeability to solutes, and stability to corneal proteases. Attaching synthetic lenticules to the cornea without cutting Bowman's layer by adhesives, laser welding, or direct adhesion may also improve the efficacy of synthetic epikeratoplasty.

Tissue Harmonic Synthetic Aperture Imaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Joachim

The main purpose of this PhD project is to develop an ultrasonic method for tissue harmonic synthetic aperture imaging. The motivation is to advance the field of synthetic aperture imaging in ultrasound, which has shown great potentials in the clinic. Suggestions for synthetic aperture tissue...... system complexity compared to conventional synthetic aperture techniques. In this project, SASB is sought combined with a pulse inversion technique for 2nd harmonic tissue harmonic imaging. The advantages in tissue harmonic imaging (THI) are expected to further improve the image quality of SASB...

Life after the synthetic cell

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Steen

2010-01-01

Nature asked eight synthetic-biology experts about the implications for science and society of the “synthetic cell” made by the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI). The institute's team assembled, modified and implanted a synthesized genome into a DNA-free bacterial shell to make a self-replicating ......Nature asked eight synthetic-biology experts about the implications for science and society of the “synthetic cell” made by the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI). The institute's team assembled, modified and implanted a synthesized genome into a DNA-free bacterial shell to make a self...

Charge transport in metal oxide nanocrystal-based materials

Science.gov (United States)

Runnerstrom, Evan Lars

structure. Charge transport can obviously be taken to mean the conduction of electrons, but it also refers to the motion of ions, such as lithium ions and protons. In many cases, the transport of ions is married to the motion of electrons as well, either through an external electrical circuit, or within the same material in the case of mixed ionic electronic conductors. The collective motion of electrons over short length scales, that is, within single nanocrystals, is also a subject of study as it pertains to plasmonic nanocrystals. Finally, charge transport can also be coupled to or result from the formation of defects in metal oxides. All of these modes of charge transport in metal oxides gain further complexity when considered in nanocrystalline systems, where the introduction of numerous surfaces can change the character of charge transport relative to bulk systems, providing opportunities to exploit new physical phenomena. Part I of this dissertation explores the combination of electronic and ionic transport in electrochromic devices based on nanocrystals. Colloidal chemistry and solution processing are used to fabricate nanocomposites based on electrochromic tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) nanocrystals. The nanocomposites, which are completely synthesized using solution processing, consist of ITO nanocrystals and lithium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide (LiTFSI) salt dispersed in a lithium ion-conducting polymer matrix of either poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) or poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). ITO nanocrystals are prepared by colloidal synthetic methods and the nanocrystal surface chemistry is modified to achieve favorable nanocrystal-polymer interactions. Homogeneous solutions containing polymer, ITO nanocrystals, and lithium salt are thus prepared and deposited by spin casting. Characterization by DC electronic measurements, microscopy, and x-ray scattering techniques show that the ITO nanocrystals form a complete, connected electrode within a polymer electrolyte

Living GenoChemetics by hyphenating synthetic biology and synthetic chemistry in vivo.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Sunil V; Tong, Xiaoxue; Pubill-Ulldemolins, Cristina; Cartmell, Christopher; Bogosyan, Emma J A; Rackham, Emma J; Marelli, Enrico; Hamed, Refaat B; Goss, Rebecca J M

2017-08-09

Marrying synthetic biology with synthetic chemistry provides a powerful approach toward natural product diversification, combining the best of both worlds: expediency and synthetic capability of biogenic pathways and chemical diversity enabled by organic synthesis. Biosynthetic pathway engineering can be employed to insert a chemically orthogonal tag into a complex natural scaffold affording the possibility of site-selective modification without employing protecting group strategies. Here we show that, by installing a sufficiently reactive handle (e.g., a C-Br bond) and developing compatible mild aqueous chemistries, synchronous biosynthesis of the tagged metabolite and its subsequent chemical modification in living culture can be achieved. This approach can potentially enable many new applications: for example, assay of directed evolution of enzymes catalyzing halo-metabolite biosynthesis in living cells or generating and following the fate of tagged metabolites and biomolecules in living systems. We report synthetic biological access to new-to-nature bromo-metabolites and the concomitant biorthogonal cross-coupling of halo-metabolites in living cultures.Coupling synthetic biology and chemical reactions in cells is a challenging task. The authors engineer bacteria capable of generating bromo-metabolites, develop a mild Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction compatible with cell growth and carry out the cross-coupling chemistry in live cell cultures.

Defluoridation by Bacteriogenic Iron Oxides: Sorption Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, K.; Ferris, F.

2009-05-01

At concentrations above 1 mg/L, fluoride in drinking water can lead to dental and skeletal fluorosis, a disease that causes mottling of the teeth, calcification of ligaments, crippling bone deformities and many other physiological disorders that can, ultimately, lead to death. Conservative estimates are that fluorosis afflicts tens of millions of people worldwide. As there is no treatment for fluorosis, prevention is the only means of controlling the disease. While numerous defluoridation techniques have been explored, no single method has been found to be both effective and inexpensive enough to implement widely. Our research began in India, with a large-scale geochemical study of the groundwater in a fluoride-contaminated region of Orissa. Having developed a better understanding of the geochemical relationships that exist between fluoride and other parameters present in an affected area, as well as the complex relationships that arise among those parameters that can impact the presence of fluoride, we began investigating certain remediation scenarios involving iron oxides. A common approach to remediation involves the partitioning of fluoride from groundwater by sorption onto a variety of materials, one of the most effective of which is iron oxide whose surface area acts as a scavenger for fluoride. In the presence of iron oxidizing bacteria, the oxidation rate of iron has been shown to be ˜6 times greater than in their absence; fluoride should, therefore, be removed from an aqueous environment by bacteriogenic iron oxides (BIOS) much more quickly than by abiotic iron oxides. Most recently, sorption studies have been conducted using both BIOS and synthetic hydrous ferric oxides in order to compare the behavior between biotic and abiotic sorbents. These studies have provided sorption isotherms that allow comparison of fluoride removed by sorption to BIOS versus synthetic iron oxides. Sorption affinity constants have also been determined, which allow for the

Innovative Application of Biopolymer Keratin as a Filler of Synthetic Acrylonitrile-Butadiene Rubber NBR

OpenAIRE

Prochoń, Mirosława; Przepiórkowska, Anita

2013-01-01

The current investigations show the influence of keratin, recovered from the tanning industry, on the thermal and mechanical properties of vulcanizates with synthetic rubber acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber NBR. The addition of waste protein to NBR vulcanizates influences the improvement of resistance at high temperatures and mechanical properties like tensile strength and hardness. The introduction of keratin to the mixes of rubber previously blended with zinc oxide (ZnO) before vulcanization ...

Ozone production using a power modulated surface dielectric barrier discharge in dry synthetic air

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Šimek, Milan; Pekárek, S.; Prukner, Václav

2012-01-01

Roč. 32, č. 4 (2012), s. 743-754 ISSN 0272-4324 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA202/09/0176 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20430508 Keywords : ozone * surface DBD * synthetic air * nitrogen oxides * production efficiency Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 1.728, year: 2012 http://www.springerlink.com/content/h7p1j46381150510/fulltext.pdf

In situ growth of capping-free magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles on liquid-phase exfoliated graphene

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tsoufis, T.; Syrgiannis, Z.; Akhtar, N.; Prato, M.; Katsaros, F.; Sideratou, Z.; Kouloumpis, A.; Gournis, D.; Rudolf, P.

2015-01-01

We report a facile approach for the in situ synthesis of very small iron oxide nanoparticles on the surface of high-quality graphene sheets. Our synthetic strategy involved the direct, liquid-phase exfoliation of highly crystalline graphite (avoiding any oxidation treatment) and the subsequent

Oxidation reactivity channels for 2-(pyridin-2-yl)-N,N-diphenylacetamides

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pailloux, Sylvie; Binyamin, Iris; Deck, Lorraine M.; Rapko, Brian M.; Hay, Benjamin P.; Duesler, Eileen N.; Paine, Robert T.

2007-11-01

Synthetic routes to 2-(pyridin-2-yl)-N,N-diphenylacetamide and 2-(6-methylpyridin-2-yl)-N,N-diphenylacetamide are described along with results from the chemical oxidation of these compounds with peracetic acid, m-chloroperbenzoic acid, and OXONE. In each case, oxidations generate four products in varying amounts depending on the oxidant and reaction conditions. Each product has been characterized by spectroscopic methods and the molecular structures of several of the new compounds have been confirmed by X-ray crystallography.

SOEC pathways for the production of synthetic fuels: The transport case

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ridjan, I.; Vad Mathiesen, B.; Connolly, D. [Aalborg Univ., Aalborg (Denmark)

2013-08-15

The focus of this report is analysis of Solid Oxide Electrolyser Cells (SOECs) in the future energy systems. The technical and socio-economic effects of various SOEC application scenarios on the future renewable energy systems are analysed, feasible or ideal locations are identified and recommended, and the competitive strengths and possible weaknesses of the SOEC technology in comparison with other competing technologies are evaluated. This resulted in a detailed overview of technologies involved in the production cycle of synthetic fuels, description of the proposed pathways and the architecture of the system. (Author)

Enhanced electrochemical oxidation of synthetic dyeing wastewater using SnO2-Sb-doped TiO2-coated granular activated carbon electrodes with high hydroxyl radical yields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Xinyang; Wu, Yue; Zhu, Wei; Xue, Fangqing; Qian, Yi; Wang, Chengwen

2016-01-01

Highlights: • We study granular activated carbon (GAC) electrodes coated with catalysts. • GAC coated with ATOT demonstrates an impressive ·OH yield. • This electrode can be used in continuous-flow three-dimensional electrode reactors. • We use Rhodamine B as a model organic compound for removal. • The GAC/ATOT performs better than all other electrodes examined. - Abstract: In this study, granular activated carbon (GAC) coated with SnO 2 -Sb doped TiO 2 (GAC/ATOT) with a high hydroxyl radical (·OH) yield is prepared via the sol-gel method. This material is utilized as a granular electrode in a continuous-flow three-dimensional electrode reactor (CTDER) for the enhanced treatment of synthetic dyeing wastewater containing Rhodamine B (RhB). We then characterize the physical properties, electrochemical properties, and electrochemical oxidation performance of the granular electrode. The results show that using the GAC/ATOT electrode in a CTDER significantly enhances the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal, decreases the energy consumption, and improves the current efficiency of the wastewater. This is primarily attributed to the higher catalytic activity of GAC/ATOT for ·OH production compared to that of other candidates, such as TiO 2 coated GAC (GAC/T), Sb doped SnO 2 coated GAC (GAC/ATO), and pure GAC. The mechanism of the enhanced electrochemical oxidation afforded by using GAC/ATOT indicates that the high ·OH yield in the reactor packed with GAC/ATOT electrodes contributes to the enhanced electrochemical oxidation performance with respect to organic compounds.

Creating biological nanomaterials using synthetic biology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rice, MaryJoe K; Ruder, Warren C

2014-01-01

Synthetic biology is a new discipline that combines science and engineering approaches to precisely control biological networks. These signaling networks are especially important in fields such as biomedicine and biochemical engineering. Additionally, biological networks can also be critical to the production of naturally occurring biological nanomaterials, and as a result, synthetic biology holds tremendous potential in creating new materials. This review introduces the field of synthetic biology, discusses how biological systems naturally produce materials, and then presents examples and strategies for incorporating synthetic biology approaches in the development of new materials. In particular, strategies for using synthetic biology to produce both organic and inorganic nanomaterials are discussed. Ultimately, synthetic biology holds the potential to dramatically impact biological materials science with significant potential applications in medical systems. (review)

Creating biological nanomaterials using synthetic biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Rice, MaryJoe K; Ruder, Warren C

2014-02-01

Synthetic biology is a new discipline that combines science and engineering approaches to precisely control biological networks. These signaling networks are especially important in fields such as biomedicine and biochemical engineering. Additionally, biological networks can also be critical to the production of naturally occurring biological nanomaterials, and as a result, synthetic biology holds tremendous potential in creating new materials. This review introduces the field of synthetic biology, discusses how biological systems naturally produce materials, and then presents examples and strategies for incorporating synthetic biology approaches in the development of new materials. In particular, strategies for using synthetic biology to produce both organic and inorganic nanomaterials are discussed. Ultimately, synthetic biology holds the potential to dramatically impact biological materials science with significant potential applications in medical systems.

Electrochemical characteristics of silver- and nickel-coated synthetic graphite prepared by a gas suspension spray coating method for the anode of lithium secondary batteries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Won Chang; Byun, Dongjin; Lee, Joong Kee; Cho, Byung won

2004-01-01

Four kinds of synthetic graphite coated with silver and nickel for the anodes of lithium secondary batteries were prepared by a gas suspension spray coating method. The electrode coated with silver showed higher charge-discharge capacities due to a Ag-Li alloy, but rate capability decreased at higher charge-discharge rate. This result can be explained by the formation of an artificial Ag oxidation film with higher impedance, this lowered the rate capability at high charge-discharge rate due to its low electrical conductivity. Rate capability is improved, however, by coating nickel and silver together on the surface of synthetic graphite. The nickel which is inactive with oxidation reaction plays an important role as a conducting agent which enhanced the conductivity of the electrode

Synthetic Defects for Vibrothermography

Science.gov (United States)

Renshaw, Jeremy; Holland, Stephen D.; Thompson, R. Bruce; Eisenmann, David J.

2010-02-01

Synthetic defects are an important tool used for characterizing the performance of nondestructive evaluation techniques. Viscous material-filled synthetic defects were developed for use in vibrothermography (also known as sonic IR) as a tool to improve inspection accuracy and reliability. This paper describes how the heat-generation response of these VMF synthetic defects is similar to the response of real defects. It also shows how VMF defects can be applied to improve inspection accuracy for complex industrial parts and presents a study of their application in an aircraft engine stator vane.

Synthetic biology: Emerging bioengineering in Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Suhandono, Sony

2017-05-01

The development of synthetic biology will shape the new era of science and technology. It is an emerging bioengineering technique involving genetic engineering which can alter the phenotype and behavior of the cell or the new product. Synthetic biology may produce biomaterials, drugs, vaccines, biosensors, and even a recombinant secondary metabolite used in herbal and complementary medicine, such as artemisinin, a malaria drug which is usually extracted from the plant Artemisia annua. The power of synthetic biology has encouraged scientists in Indonesia, and is still in early development. This paper also covers some research from an Indonesian research institute in synthetic biology such as observing the production of bio surfactants and the enhanced production of artemisinin using a transient expression system. Synthetic biology development in Indonesia may also be related to the iGEM competition, a large synthetic biology research competition which was attended by several universities in Indonesia. The application of synthetic biology for drug discovery will be discussed.

Heterocyclic N-Oxides – An Emerging Class of Therapeutic Agents

Science.gov (United States)

Mfuh, Adelphe M.; Larionov, Oleg V.

2016-01-01

Heterocyclic N-oxides have emerged as potent compounds with anticancer, antibacterial, antihypertensive, antiparasitic, anti-HIV, anti-inflammatory, herbicidal, neuroprotective, and procognitive activities. The N-oxide motif has been successfully employed in a number of recent drug development projects. This review surveys the emergence of this scaffold in the mainstream medicinal chemistry with a focus on the discovery of the heterocyclic N-oxide drugs, N-oxide-specific mechanisms of action, drug-receptor interactions and synthetic avenues to these compounds. As the first review on this subject that covers the developments since 1950s to date, it is expected that it will inspire wider implementation of the heterocyclic N-oxide motif in the rational design of new medicinal agents. PMID:26087764

Further development of the ceric oxidation ferrous reduction dichromate titration method of plutonium determination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Macdonald, A.; Savage, D.J.

1986-02-01

The chemical reactions involved in the amperometric titration method for plutonium have been further examined, to identify remaining potential sources of bias. As these effects were not expected to be more than 0.1% at the 30 mg plutonium level, a procedure for analysing small (3 mg) aliquots of plutonium has been developed, to help identify any marginal effects. At this reduced level both plutonium and 'blank' determinations indicated that reduction of potassium permanganate by oxalic acid is slower than previously suspected and that a variable small bias can result. Decreasing the concentration of the potassium permanganate eliminated the latter effect. A low bias, proportional to the amount of excess oxalic acid added, was observed. Experiments suggest the bias is due to the reaction of oxalate with an intermediary in the iron II/ dichromate titration. The effect can be adequately reduced by complexing oxalate with cerium III. The reduction of plutonium VI by iron II has been shown to be faster than previously assumed, permitting a decreased waiting time before titration. Minor changes to the original procedure are recommended for analysis of 3 mg aliquots of plutonium. (author)

The Synthetic Biology Open Language (SBOL) provides a community standard for communicating designs in synthetic biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Galdzicki, Michal; Clancy, Kevin P; Oberortner, Ernst; Pocock, Matthew; Quinn, Jacqueline Y; Rodriguez, Cesar A; Roehner, Nicholas; Wilson, Mandy L; Adam, Laura; Anderson, J Christopher; Bartley, Bryan A; Beal, Jacob; Chandran, Deepak; Chen, Joanna; Densmore, Douglas; Endy, Drew; Grünberg, Raik; Hallinan, Jennifer; Hillson, Nathan J; Johnson, Jeffrey D; Kuchinsky, Allan; Lux, Matthew; Misirli, Goksel; Peccoud, Jean; Plahar, Hector A; Sirin, Evren; Stan, Guy-Bart; Villalobos, Alan; Wipat, Anil; Gennari, John H; Myers, Chris J; Sauro, Herbert M

2014-06-01

The re-use of previously validated designs is critical to the evolution of synthetic biology from a research discipline to an engineering practice. Here we describe the Synthetic Biology Open Language (SBOL), a proposed data standard for exchanging designs within the synthetic biology community. SBOL represents synthetic biology designs in a community-driven, formalized format for exchange between software tools, research groups and commercial service providers. The SBOL Developers Group has implemented SBOL as an XML/RDF serialization and provides software libraries and specification documentation to help developers implement SBOL in their own software. We describe early successes, including a demonstration of the utility of SBOL for information exchange between several different software tools and repositories from both academic and industrial partners. As a community-driven standard, SBOL will be updated as synthetic biology evolves to provide specific capabilities for different aspects of the synthetic biology workflow.

A Canadian refiner's perspective of synthetic crudes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Halford, T.L.; McIntosh, A.P.; Rasmussen

1997-01-01

Some of the factors affecting a refiner's choice of crude oil include refinery hardware, particularly gas oil crackers, products slate and product specifications, crude availability, relative crude price and crude quality. An overview of synthetic crude, the use of synthetic crude combined with other crudes and a comparison of synthetic crude with conventional crude oil was given. The two main users of synthetic crude are basically two groups of refiners, those large groups who use synthetic crude combined with other crudes, and a smaller group who run synthetic crude on specially designed units as a sole feed. The effects of changes in fuel legislation were reviewed. It was predicted that the changes will have a mixed impact on the value of synthetic crude, but low sulphur diesel regulations and gasoline sulphur regulations will make current synthetic crudes attractive. The big future change with a negative impact will be diesel cetane increases to reduce engine emissions. This will reduce synthetic crude attractiveness due to distillate yields and quality and high gas oil yields. Similarly, any legislation limiting aromatics in diesel fuel will also make synthetic crudes less attractive. Problems experienced by refiners with hardware dedicated to synthetic crude (salt, naphthenic acid, fouling, quality variations) were also reviewed. 3 tabs

Finding Hope in Synthetic Biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Takala, Tuija

2017-04-01

For some, synthetic biology represents great hope in offering possible solutions to many of the world's biggest problems, from hunger to sustainable development. Others remain fearful of the harmful uses, such as bioweapons, that synthetic biology can lend itself to, and most hold that issues of biosafety are of utmost importance. In this article, I will evaluate these points of view and conclude that although the biggest promises of synthetic biology are unlikely to become reality, and the probability of accidents is fairly substantial, synthetic biology could still be seen to benefit humanity by enhancing our ethical understanding and by offering a boost to world economy.

Geo synthetic-reinforced Pavement systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zornberg, J. G.

2014-01-01

Geo synthetics have been used as reinforcement inclusions to improve pavement performance. while there are clear field evidence of the benefit of using geo synthetic reinforcements, the specific conditions or mechanisms that govern the reinforcement of pavements are, at best, unclear and have remained largely unmeasured. Significant research has been recently conducted with the objectives of: (i) determining the relevant properties of geo synthetics that contribute to the enhanced performance of pavement systems, (ii) developing appropriate analytical, laboratory and field methods capable of quantifying the pavement performance, and (iii) enabling the prediction of pavement performance as a function of the properties of the various types of geo synthetics. (Author)

A Comparison of Degradable Synthetic Polymer Fibers for Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

OpenAIRE

Tovar, Nick; Bourke, Sharon; Jaffe, Michael; Murthy, N. Sanjeeva; Kohn, Joachim; Gatt, Charles; Dunn, Michael G.

2010-01-01

We compared mechanical properties, degradation rates, and cellular compatibilities of two synthetic polymer fibers potentially useful as ACL reconstruction scaffolds: poly(desaminotyrosyl-tyrosine dodecyl dodecanedioate)(12,10), p(DTD DD) and poly(L-lactic acid), PLLA. The yield stress of ethylene oxide (ETO) sterilized wet fibers was 150 ± 22 MPa and 87 ± 12 MPa for p(DTD DD) and PLLA, respectively, with moduli of 1.7 ± 0.1 MPa and 4.4 ± 0.43 MPa. Strength and molecular weight retention were...

Identification of genes for melatonin synthetic enzymes in 'Red Fuji' apple (Malus domestica Borkh.cv.Red) and their expression and melatonin production during fruit development.

Science.gov (United States)

Lei, Qiong; Wang, Lin; Tan, Dun-Xian; Zhao, Yu; Zheng, Xiao-Dong; Chen, Hao; Li, Qing-Tian; Zuo, Bi-Xiao; Kong, Jin

2013-11-01

Melatonin is present in many edible fruits; however, the presence of melatonin in apple has not previously been reported. In this study, the genes for melatonin synthetic enzymes including tryptophan decarboxylase, tryptamine 5-hydroxylase (T5H), arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase, and N-acetylserotonin methyltransferase were identified in 'Red Fuji' apple. Each gene has several homologous genes. Sequence analysis shows that these genes have little homology with those of animals and they only have limited homology with known genes of rice melatonin synthetic enzymes. Multiple origins of melatonin synthetic genes during the evolution are expected. The expression of these genes is fully coordinated with melatonin production in apple development. Melatonin levels in apple exhibit an inverse relationship with the content of malondialdehyde, a product of lipid peroxidation. Two major melatonin synthetic peaks appeared on July 17 and on October 8 in both unbagged and bagged apple samples. At the periods mentioned above, apples experienced rapid expansion and increased respiration. These episodes significantly elevate reactive oxygen species production in the apple. Current data further confirmed that melatonin produced in apple was used to neutralize the toxic oxidants and protect the developing apple against oxidative stress. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Levels of synthetic antioxidants (ethoxyquin, butylated hydroxytoluene and butylated hydroxyanisole) in fish feed and commercially farmed fish.

Science.gov (United States)

Lundebye, A-K; Hove, H; Måge, A; Bohne, V J B; Hamre, K

2010-12-01

Several synthetic antioxidants are authorized for use as feed additives in the European Union. Ethoxyquin (EQ) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) are generally added to fish meal and fish oil, respectively, to limit lipid oxidation. The study was conducted to examine the concentrations of EQ, BHT and butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) in several commercially important species of farmed fish, namely Atlantic salmon, halibut and cod and rainbow trout, as well as concentrations in fish feed. The highest levels of BHT, EQ and BHA were found in farmed Atlantic salmon fillets, and were 7.60, 0.17 and 0.07 mg kg(-1), respectively. The lowest concentrations of the synthetic antioxidants found were in cod. The concentration of the oxidation product ethoxyquin dimer (EQDM) was more than ten-fold higher than the concentration of parent EQ in Atlantic salmon halibut and rainbow trout, whereas this dimer was not detected in cod fillets. The theoretical consumer exposure to the synthetic antioxidants EQ, BHA and BHT from the consumption of farmed fish was calculated. The contribution of EQ from a single portion (300 g) of skinned fillets of the different species of farmed fish would contribute at most 15% of the acceptable daily intake (ADI) for a 60 kg adult. The consumption of farmed fish would not contribute measurably to the intake of BHA; however, a 300 g portion of farmed Atlantic salmon would contribute up to 75% of the ADI for BHT.

Novel synthesis strategy for the preparation of individual phytosterol oxides.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Junlan; Yue, Qiulin; Ji, Yishun; Cheng, Beijiu; Zhang, Xin

2013-01-30

Sterols (cholesterol and phytosterols) are important structural components of cell membranes and major constituents of lipid metabolism. Research on their oxides, such as the factors affecting oxidation, oxides' structures, and qualitative and quantitative analysis, aroused more attention in this decade. However, the biological roles of individual phytosterol oxides are still unclear because no commercial individual phytosterol oxide standards are available. Different from the traditional chemical synthesis, in the present study, chemical synthesis from a starting phytosterol mixture followed with a semipreparative HPLC separation produced individual oxides. TLC and analytical HPLC were used here to not only monitor the reaction process but also specifically analyze the synthetic intermediates and oxides. The chromatographic results exhibited strict rules and similar characteristics. Finally, for the first time, four individual phytosterol oxides were successfully separated and collected by a semipreparative HPLC system, thus providing a novel strategy for the preparation of individual phytosterol oxides.

Mechanism-Based Design of Green Oxidation Catalysts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rybak-Akimova, Elena [Tufts Univ., Medford, MA (United States)

2015-03-16

In modern era of scarce resources, developing chemical processes that can eventually generate useful materials and fuels from readily available, simple, cheap, renewable starting materials is of paramount importance. Small molecules, such as dioxygen, dinitrogen, water, or carbon dioxide, can be viewed as ideal sources of oxygen, nitrogen, or carbon atoms in synthetic applications. Living organisms perfected the art of utilizing small molecules in biosynthesis and in generating energy; photosynthesis, which couples carbohydrate synthesis from carbon dioxide with photocatalytic water splitting, is but one impressive example of possible catalytic processes. Small molecule activation in synthetic systems remains challenging, and current efforts are focused on developing catalytic reactions that can convert small molecules into useful building blocks for generating more complicated organic molecules, including fuels. Modeling nature is attractive in many respects, including the possibility to use non-toxic, earth-abundant metals in catalysis. Specific systems investigated in our work include biomimetic catalytic oxidations with dioxygen, hydrogen peroxide, and related oxygen atom donors. More recently, a new direction was been also pursued in the group, fixation of carbon dioxide with transition metal complexes. Mechanistic understanding of biomimetic metal-catalyzed oxidations is critical for the design of functional models of metalloenzymes, and ultimately for the rational synthesis of useful, selective and efficient oxidation catalysts utilizing dioxygen and hydrogen peroxide as terminal oxidants. All iron oxidases and oxygenases (both mononuclear and dinuclear) utilize metal-centered intermediates as reactive species in selective substrate oxidation. In contrast, free radical pathways (Fenton chemistry) are common for traditional inorganic iron compounds, producing hydroxyl radicals as very active, non-selective oxidants. Recent developments, however, changed this

Synthesis and Evaluation of the Anti-Oxidant Capacity of Curcumin Glucuronides, the Major Curcumin Metabolites

OpenAIRE

Choudhury, Ambar K.; Raja, Suganya; Mahapatra, Sanjata; Nagabhushanam, Kalyanam; Majeed, Muhammed

2015-01-01

Curcumin metabolites namely curcumin monoglucuronide and curcumin diglucuronide were synthesized using an alternative synthetic approach. The anti-oxidant potential of these curcumin glucuronides was compared with that of curcumin using DPPH scavenging method and Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) assay. The results show that curcumin monoglucuronide exhibits 10 fold less anti-oxidant activity (DPPH method) and the anti-oxidant capacity of curcumin diglucuronide is highly attenuated co...

Models for synthetic biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaznessis, Yiannis N

2007-11-06

Synthetic biological engineering is emerging from biology as a distinct discipline based on quantification. The technologies propelling synthetic biology are not new, nor is the concept of designing novel biological molecules. What is new is the emphasis on system behavior. The objective is the design and construction of new biological devices and systems to deliver useful applications. Numerous synthetic gene circuits have been created in the past decade, including bistable switches, oscillators, and logic gates, and possible applications abound, including biofuels, detectors for biochemical and chemical weapons, disease diagnosis, and gene therapies. More than fifty years after the discovery of the molecular structure of DNA, molecular biology is mature enough for real quantification that is useful for biological engineering applications, similar to the revolution in modeling in chemistry in the 1950s. With the excitement that synthetic biology is generating, the engineering and biological science communities appear remarkably willing to cross disciplinary boundaries toward a common goal.

The effects of iron(II) on the kinetics of arsenic oxidation and sorption on manganese oxides.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Yun; Li, Wei; Sparks, Donald L

2015-11-01

In this study, As(III) oxidation kinetics by a poorly-crystalline phyllomanganate (δ-MnO2) in the presence and absence of dissolved Fe(II) was investigated using stirred-flow and batch experiments. Chemically synthetic δ-MnO2 was reacted with four influent solutions, containing the same As(III) concentration but different Fe(II) concentrations, at pH 6. The results show an initial rapid As(III) oxidation by δ-MnO2, which is followed by an appreciably slow reaction after 8h. In the presence of Fe(II), As(III) oxidation is inhibited due to the competitive oxidation of Fe(II) as well as the formation of Fe(III)-(hydr)oxides on the δ-MnO2 surface. However, the sorption of As(III), As(V) and Mn(II) are increased, for the newly formed Fe(III)-(hydr)oxides provide additional sorption sites. This study suggests that the competitive oxidation of Fe(II) and consequently the precipitation of Fe(III) compounds on the δ-MnO2 surface play an important role in As(III) oxidation and As sequestration. Understanding these processes would be helpful in developing in situ strategies for remediation of As-contaminated waters and soils. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Oxidation Reactivity Channels for 2-(Pyridin-2-yl)-N,N-diphenyl-acetamides

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pailloux, Sylvie [University of New Mexico, Albuquerque; Binyamin, Iris [University of New Mexico, Albuquerque; Kim, Sung-jun [University of New Mexico, Albuquerque; Deck, Lorraine M. [University of New Mexico, Albuquerque; Rapko, Brian M. [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL); Hay, Benjamin [ORNL; Duesler, Eileen N. [University of New Mexico, Albuquerque; Paine, Robert T. [University of New Mexico, Albuquerque

2007-11-01

Synthetic routes to 2-(pyridin-2-yl)-N,N-diphenylacetamide and 2-(6-methylpyridin-2-yl)-N,N-diphenyl-acetamide are described along with results from the chemical oxidation of these compounds with peracetic acid, m-chloroperbenzoic acid, and OXONE. In each case, oxidations generate four products in varying amounts depending on the oxidant and reaction conditions. Each product has been characterized by spectroscopic methods and the molecular structures of several of the new compounds have been confirmed by X-ray crystallography.

Investigation on reactivity of iron nickel oxides in chemical looping dry reforming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Zhen; He, Fang; Chen, Dezhen; Zhao, Kun; Wei, Guoqiang; Zheng, Anqing; Zhao, Zengli; Li, Haibin

2016-01-01

Iron nickel oxides as oxygen carriers were investigated to clarify the reaction mechanism of NiFe_2O_4 material during the chemical looping dry reforming (CLDR) process. The thermodynamic analysis showed that metallic Fe can be oxidized into Fe_3O_4 by CO_2, but metallic Ni cannot. The oxidizability of the four oxygen carriers was in the order of NiO > synthetic NiFe_2O_4 spinel > NiO-Fe_2O_3 mixed oxides > Fe_2O_3, and the reducibility sequence of their reduced products was synthetic NiFe_2O_4 spinel > NiO-Fe_2O_3 mixed oxides > Fe_2O_3 > NiO. The NiO showed the best oxidizability but it was easy to cause CH_4 cracking and its reduced product (Ni) did not recover lattice oxygen under CO_2 atmosphere. It only produced 74 mL CO for 1 g Fe_2O_3 during the CO_2 reforming because of its weak oxidizability. The Redox ability of synthetic NiFe_2O_4 was obvious higher than that of NiO-Fe_2O_3 mixed oxides due to the synergistic effect of metallic Fe-Ni in the spinel structure. 1 g synthetic NiFe_2O_4 can produce 238 mL CO, which was twice higher than that of 1 g NiO-Fe_2O_3 mixed oxides (111 mL). A part of Fe element was divorced from the NiFe_2O_4 spinel structure after one cycle, which was the major reason for degradation of reactivity of NiFe_2O_4 oxygen carrier. - Highlights: • A synergistic effect of Fe/Ni can improve the reactivity of oxygen carrier (OC). • The oxidizability sequence of four OCs is NiO > NiFe_2O_4 > mixed NiO + Fe_2O_3 > Fe_2O_3. • The reducibility sequence of four OCs is NiFe_2O_4 > mixed NiO + Fe_2O_3 > Fe_2O_3 > NiO. • The formation of Fe (Ni) alloy phase facilitates more CO_2 reduced into CO. • Part of Fe is divorced from the spinel structure, leading to the degeneration of OC reactivity.

Dominant ultraviolet-blue photoluminescence of ZnO embedded into synthetic opal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abrarov, S.M.; Yuldashev, Sh.U.; Kim, T.W.; Lee, S.B.; Kwon, H.Y.; Kang, T.W.

2005-01-01

The temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) characteristics of zinc oxide (ZnO) embedded into the voids of synthetic opal were studied. ZnO was infiltrated into opal from aqueous solution with zinc nitrate precursor followed by thermal annealing. The PL spectra of the ZnO powder exhibit very high and broad emission peaks in the green region due to crystal defects, such as oxygen vacancies and zinc ion interstitials. In contrast to the PL spectra of ZnO powder, nanocrystals of ZnO embedded into the voids of FCC packed opal matrix exhibit dominant ultraviolet (UV)-blue and rapidly decreasing green PL emissions with decreasing temperature. The temperature-dependent PL characteristics show that the green band suppression in the ZnO nanocrystals is due to the influence of photonic crystal. The infiltration of nanoparticles into synthetic opal may be used for the fabrication of polycrystalline ZnO with dominant UV-blue PL. These results indicate that the luminescent materials embedded into photonic crystal may be promising for the fabrication of the RGB pixels in full-color displays

Meeting Report: Synthetic Biology Jamboree for Undergraduates

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, A. Malcolm

2005-01-01

The field of synthetic biology (the name is derived from an analogy to synthetic chemistry) has recognized itself as a "field" only since about 2002. Synthetic biology has gotten some high-profile attention recently, but most people are not aware the field even exists. Synthetic biologists apply engineering principles to genomic circuits to…

21 CFR 172.888 - Synthetic petroleum wax.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 3 2010-04-01 2009-04-01 true Synthetic petroleum wax. 172.888 Section 172.888... CONSUMPTION Multipurpose Additives § 172.888 Synthetic petroleum wax. Synthetic petroleum wax may be safely used in or on foods in accordance with the following conditions: (a) Synthetic petroleum wax is a...

Ag@graphene oxide nanocomposite as an efficient visible-light plasmonic photocatalyst for the degradation of organic pollutants: A facile green synthetic approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haldorai, Yuvaraj; Kim, Byung-Keuk; Jo, Youl-Lae; Shim, Jae-Jin

2014-01-01

We report a simple and effective supercritical route to decorate silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) on graphene oxide (GO) using a commonly available and non-toxic glucose as a reducing agent. Transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis confirmed that Ag NPs of size around 8–20 nm were coated on the GO surface under optimized experimental condition. Ag NPs on the GO surface were predominantly spherical in shape and well dispersed. The experimental results proved that the as-synthesized GO/Ag nanocomposite could be used as a highly efficient photocatalyst for the degradation of Rhodamine 123 dye and acetaldehyde under visible-light irradiation. The degradation results indicated that the photocatalytic performance of nanocomposite was greatly enhanced owing to the improved adsorption performance and separation efficiency of photo-generated carriers. The nanocomposite maintains a high level activity even after four times of recycle. Furthermore, the nanocomposite exhibited excellent antibacterial activity against gram-positive and gram-negative microorganisms. - Highlights: • Visible-light driven reusable photocatalyst. • Efficient degradation of Rhodamine 123 dye and acetaldehyde. • Excellent antibacterial activity. • Green synthetic approach using supercritical fluid. • New field of sustainable nanotechnology

Polymer derived non-oxide ceramics modified with late transition metals.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaheer, Muhammad; Schmalz, Thomas; Motz, Günter; Kempe, Rhett

2012-08-07

This tutorial review highlights the methods for the preparation of metal modified precursor derived ceramics (PDCs) and concentrates on the rare non-oxide systems enhanced with late transition metals. In addition to the main synthetic strategies for modified SiC and SiCN ceramics, an overview of the morphologies, structures and compositions of both, ceramic materials and metal (nano) particles, is presented. Potential magnetic and catalytic applications have been discussed for the so manufactured metal containing non-oxide ceramics.

Synthetic biology: programming cells for biomedical applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Hörner, Maximilian; Reischmann, Nadine; Weber, Wilfried

2012-01-01

The emerging field of synthetic biology is a novel biological discipline at the interface between traditional biology, chemistry, and engineering sciences. Synthetic biology aims at the rational design of complex synthetic biological devices and systems with desired properties by combining compatible, modular biological parts in a systematic manner. While the first engineered systems were mainly proof-of-principle studies to demonstrate the power of the modular engineering approach of synthetic biology, subsequent systems focus on applications in the health, environmental, and energy sectors. This review describes recent approaches for biomedical applications that were developed along the synthetic biology design hierarchy, at the level of individual parts, of devices, and of complex multicellular systems. It describes how synthetic biological parts can be used for the synthesis of drug-delivery tools, how synthetic biological devices can facilitate the discovery of novel drugs, and how multicellular synthetic ecosystems can give insight into population dynamics of parasites and hosts. These examples demonstrate how this new discipline could contribute to novel solutions in the biopharmaceutical industry.

Role of Synthetic and Dimensional Synthetic Organic Chemistry in Block Copolymer Micelle Nanosensor Engineering

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ek, Pramod Kumar

This thesis investigated the role of amphiphilic triblock copolymer micelle nanomaterials in nanosensors, with emphasis on the synthesis of micelle particle sensors. The thesis is focused on the role of synthetic and dimensional synthetic organic chemistry in amphiphilic triblock core-shellcorona...

Word selection affects perceptions of synthetic biology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tonidandel Scott

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Members of the synthetic biology community have discussed the significance of word selection when describing synthetic biology to the general public. In particular, many leaders proposed the word "create" was laden with negative connotations. We found that word choice and framing does affect public perception of synthetic biology. In a controlled experiment, participants perceived synthetic biology more negatively when "create" was used to describe the field compared to "construct" (p = 0.008. Contrary to popular opinion among synthetic biologists, however, low religiosity individuals were more influenced negatively by the framing manipulation than high religiosity people. Our results suggest that synthetic biologists directly influence public perception of their field through avoidance of the word "create".

Oxidation behavior of U-Si compounds in air from 25 to 1000 C

Science.gov (United States)

Sooby Wood, E.; White, J. T.; Nelson, A. T.

2017-02-01

The air oxidation behavior of U3Si2, USi, and U3Si5 is studied from room temperature to 1000 C. The onsets of breakaway oxidation for each compound are identified during synthetic air ramps to 1000 C using thermogravimetric analysis. Isothermal air oxidation tests are performed below and above the breakaway oxidation onset to discern the oxidation kinetic behavior of these candidate accident tolerant fuel forms. Uranium metal is tested in the same manner to provide a reference for the oxidation behavior. Thermogravimetric, x-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy analysis are presented here along with a discussion of the oxidation behavior of these materials and the impact of the lack of oxidation resistance to their deployment as accident tolerant nuclear fuels.

Isothermal Oxidation of Magnetite to Hematite in Air and Cyclic Reduction/Oxidation Under Carbon Looping Combustion Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Simmonds, Tegan; Hayes, Peter C.

2017-12-01

In the carbon looping combustion process the oxygen carrier is regenerated through oxidation in air; this process has been simulated by the oxidation of dense synthetic magnetite for selected temperatures and times. The oxidation of magnetite in air is shown to occur through the formation of dense hematite layers on the particle surface. This dense hematite forms through lath type shear transformations or solid-state diffusion through the product layer. Cyclic reduction in CO-CO2/oxidation in air of hematite single crystals has been carried out under controlled laboratory conditions at 1173 K (900 °C). It has been shown that the initial reduction step is critical to determining the product microstructure, which consists of gas pore dendrites in the magnetite matrix with blocky hematite formed on the pore surfaces. The progressive growth of the magnetite layer with the application of subsequent cycles appears to continue until no original hematite remains, after which physical disintegration of the particles takes place.

Gas-generated thermal oxidation of a coordination cluster for an anion-doped mesoporous metal oxide.

Science.gov (United States)

Hirai, Kenji; Isobe, Shigehito; Sada, Kazuki

2015-12-18

Central in material design of metal oxides is the increase of surface area and control of intrinsic electronic and optical properties, because of potential applications for energy storage, photocatalysis and photovoltaics. Here, we disclose a facile method, inspired by geochemical process, which gives rise to mesoporous anion-doped metal oxides. As a model system, we demonstrate that simple calcination of a multinuclear coordination cluster results in synchronic chemical reactions: thermal oxidation of Ti8O10(4-aminobenzoate)12 and generation of gases including amino-group fragments. The gas generation during the thermal oxidation of Ti8O10(4-aminobenzoate)12 creates mesoporosity in TiO2. Concurrently, nitrogen atoms contained in the gases are doped into TiO2, thus leading to the formation of mesoporous N-doped TiO2. The mesoporous N-doped TiO2 can be easily synthesized by calcination of the multinuclear coordination cluster, but shows better photocatalytic activity than the one prepared by a conventional sol-gel method. Owing to an intrinsic designability of coordination compounds, this facile synthetic will be applicable to a wide range of metal oxides and anion dopants.

Synthetic Biology for Specialty Chemicals.

Science.gov (United States)

Markham, Kelly A; Alper, Hal S

2015-01-01

In this review, we address recent advances in the field of synthetic biology and describe how those tools have been applied to produce a wide variety of chemicals in microorganisms. Here we classify the expansion of the synthetic biology toolbox into three different categories based on their primary function in strain engineering-for design, for construction, and for optimization. Next, focusing on recent years, we look at how chemicals have been produced using these new synthetic biology tools. Advances in producing fuels are briefly described, followed by a more thorough treatment of commodity chemicals, specialty chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceuticals. Throughout this review, an emphasis is placed on how synthetic biology tools are applied to strain engineering. Finally, we discuss organism and host strain diversity and provide a future outlook in the field.

Mammalian synthetic biology: emerging medical applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Kis, Zoltán; Pereira, Hugo Sant'Ana; Homma, Takayuki; Pedrigi, Ryan M; Krams, Rob

2015-05-06

In this review, we discuss new emerging medical applications of the rapidly evolving field of mammalian synthetic biology. We start with simple mammalian synthetic biological components and move towards more complex and therapy-oriented gene circuits. A comprehensive list of ON-OFF switches, categorized into transcriptional, post-transcriptional, translational and post-translational, is presented in the first sections. Subsequently, Boolean logic gates, synthetic mammalian oscillators and toggle switches will be described. Several synthetic gene networks are further reviewed in the medical applications section, including cancer therapy gene circuits, immuno-regulatory networks, among others. The final sections focus on the applicability of synthetic gene networks to drug discovery, drug delivery, receptor-activating gene circuits and mammalian biomanufacturing processes. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Protease-sensitive synthetic prions.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David W Colby

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Prions arise when the cellular prion protein (PrP(C undergoes a self-propagating conformational change; the resulting infectious conformer is designated PrP(Sc. Frequently, PrP(Sc is protease-resistant but protease-sensitive (s prions have been isolated in humans and other animals. We report here that protease-sensitive, synthetic prions were generated in vitro during polymerization of recombinant (rec PrP into amyloid fibers. In 22 independent experiments, recPrP amyloid preparations, but not recPrP monomers or oligomers, transmitted disease to transgenic mice (n = 164, denoted Tg9949 mice, that overexpress N-terminally truncated PrP. Tg9949 control mice (n = 174 did not spontaneously generate prions although they were prone to late-onset spontaneous neurological dysfunction. When synthetic prion isolates from infected Tg9949 mice were serially transmitted in the same line of mice, they exhibited sPrP(Sc and caused neurodegeneration. Interestingly, these protease-sensitive prions did not shorten the life span of Tg9949 mice despite causing extensive neurodegeneration. We inoculated three synthetic prion isolates into Tg4053 mice that overexpress full-length PrP; Tg4053 mice are not prone to developing spontaneous neurological dysfunction. The synthetic prion isolates caused disease in 600-750 days in Tg4053 mice, which exhibited sPrP(Sc. These novel synthetic prions demonstrate that conformational changes in wild-type PrP can produce mouse prions composed exclusively of sPrP(Sc.

Electrical properties of aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) nanoparticles synthesized by chemical vapor synthesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hartner, Sonja; Schulz, Christof; Wiggers, Hartmut; Ali, Moazzam; Winterer, Markus

2009-01-01

Aluminum-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles have been prepared by chemical vapor synthesis, which facilitates the incorporation of a higher percentage of dopant atoms, far above the thermodynamic solubility limit of aluminum. The electrical properties of aluminum-doped and undoped zinc oxide nanoparticles were investigated by impedance spectroscopy. The impedance is measured under hydrogen and synthetic air between 323 and 673 K. The measurements under hydrogen as well as under synthetic air show transport properties depending on temperature and doping level. Under hydrogen atmosphere, a decreasing conductivity with increasing dopant content is observed, which can be explained by enhanced scattering processes due to an increasing disorder in the nanocrystalline material. The temperature coefficient for the doped samples switches from positive temperature coefficient behavior to negative temperature coefficient behavior with increasing dopant concentration. In the presence of synthetic air, the conductivity firstly increases with increasing dopant content by six orders of magnitude. The origin of the increasing conductivity is the generation of free charge carriers upon dopant incorporation. It reaches its maximum at a concentration of 7.7% of aluminum, and drops for higher doping levels. In all cases, the conductivity under hydrogen is higher than under synthetic air and can be changed reversibly by changing the atmosphere.

Electrical properties of aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) nanoparticles synthesized by chemical vapor synthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Hartner, Sonja; Ali, Moazzam; Schulz, Christof; Winterer, Markus; Wiggers, Hartmut

2009-11-04

Aluminum-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles have been prepared by chemical vapor synthesis, which facilitates the incorporation of a higher percentage of dopant atoms, far above the thermodynamic solubility limit of aluminum. The electrical properties of aluminum-doped and undoped zinc oxide nanoparticles were investigated by impedance spectroscopy. The impedance is measured under hydrogen and synthetic air between 323 and 673 K. The measurements under hydrogen as well as under synthetic air show transport properties depending on temperature and doping level. Under hydrogen atmosphere, a decreasing conductivity with increasing dopant content is observed, which can be explained by enhanced scattering processes due to an increasing disorder in the nanocrystalline material. The temperature coefficient for the doped samples switches from positive temperature coefficient behavior to negative temperature coefficient behavior with increasing dopant concentration. In the presence of synthetic air, the conductivity firstly increases with increasing dopant content by six orders of magnitude. The origin of the increasing conductivity is the generation of free charge carriers upon dopant incorporation. It reaches its maximum at a concentration of 7.7% of aluminum, and drops for higher doping levels. In all cases, the conductivity under hydrogen is higher than under synthetic air and can be changed reversibly by changing the atmosphere.

Interactions between Human Antibodies and Synthetic Conformational Peptide Epitopes: Innovative Approach for Electrochemical Detection of Biomarkers of Multiple Sclerosis at Platinum Electrodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bellagha-Chenchah, W.; Sella, C.; Fernandez, F. Real; Peroni, E.; Lolli, F.; Amatore, C.

2015-01-01

The detection of human antibodies of Multiple Sclerosis patients was investigated based on the electrochemical oxidation of a synthetic antigenic probe, a glycopeptide Fc-CSF114(Glc) bearing a ferrocenyl moiety. Electrochemical measurements were carried out at platinum microband electrodes without any electrode surface modification. A microfluidic device was designed in order to both minimize peptide consumption and increase the number of experiments with low volumes of samples. The specific interactions between Fc-CSF114(Glc) and antibodies were evidenced through comparison with electrochemical responses obtained from the ferrocenyl unglycosylated peptide Fc-CSF114 used as negative control. The interactions between Fc-CSF114(Glc) and autoantibodies were characterized by a shift of the oxidation potential towards positive values. A mechanism for peptide oxidation was proposed based on a diffusion control of mass transport and the formation of adsorbed layers able to mediate electron transfer. Results showed efficient antigen-antibody recognition without any electrode grafting or further addition of labels in solution. Preliminary tests using human sera from Multiple Sclerosis patients and healthy donors validated this new approach aimed at developing innovative and fast diagnostic tools, based on electrochemical synthetic antigenic probes

Synergistic Synthetic Biology: Units in Concert

Science.gov (United States)

Trosset, Jean-Yves; Carbonell, Pablo

2013-01-01

Synthetic biology aims at translating the methods and strategies from engineering into biology in order to streamline the design and construction of biological devices through standardized parts. Modular synthetic biology devices are designed by means of an adequate elimination of cross-talk that makes circuits orthogonal and specific. To that end, synthetic constructs need to be adequately optimized through in silico modeling by choosing the right complement of genetic parts and by experimental tuning through directed evolution and craftsmanship. In this review, we consider an additional and complementary tool available to the synthetic biologist for innovative design and successful construction of desired circuit functionalities: biological synergies. Synergy is a prevalent emergent property in biological systems that arises from the concerted action of multiple factors producing an amplification or cancelation effect compared with individual actions alone. Synergies appear in domains as diverse as those involved in chemical and protein activity, polypharmacology, and metabolic pathway complementarity. In conventional synthetic biology designs, synergistic cross-talk between parts and modules is generally attenuated in order to verify their orthogonality. Synergistic interactions, however, can induce emergent behavior that might prove useful for synthetic biology applications, like in functional circuit design, multi-drug treatment, or in sensing and delivery devices. Synergistic design principles are therefore complementary to those coming from orthogonal design and may provide added value to synthetic biology applications. The appropriate modeling, characterization, and design of synergies between biological parts and units will allow the discovery of yet unforeseeable, novel synthetic biology applications. PMID:25022769

Synergistic Synthetic Biology: Units in Concert

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trosset, Jean-Yves; Carbonell, Pablo

2013-01-01

Synthetic biology aims at translating the methods and strategies from engineering into biology in order to streamline the design and construction of biological devices through standardized parts. Modular synthetic biology devices are designed by means of an adequate elimination of cross-talk that makes circuits orthogonal and specific. To that end, synthetic constructs need to be adequately optimized through in silico modeling by choosing the right complement of genetic parts and by experimental tuning through directed evolution and craftsmanship. In this review, we consider an additional and complementary tool available to the synthetic biologist for innovative design and successful construction of desired circuit functionalities: biological synergies. Synergy is a prevalent emergent property in biological systems that arises from the concerted action of multiple factors producing an amplification or cancelation effect compared with individual actions alone. Synergies appear in domains as diverse as those involved in chemical and protein activity, polypharmacology, and metabolic pathway complementarity. In conventional synthetic biology designs, synergistic cross-talk between parts and modules is generally attenuated in order to verify their orthogonality. Synergistic interactions, however, can induce emergent behavior that might prove useful for synthetic biology applications, like in functional circuit design, multi-drug treatment, or in sensing and delivery devices. Synergistic design principles are therefore complementary to those coming from orthogonal design and may provide added value to synthetic biology applications. The appropriate modeling, characterization, and design of synergies between biological parts and units will allow the discovery of yet unforeseeable, novel synthetic biology applications.

Biomimetic oxidation of piperine and piplartine catalyzed by iron(III) and manganese(III) porphyrins.

Science.gov (United States)

Schaab, Estela Hanauer; Crotti, Antonio Eduardo Miller; Iamamoto, Yassuko; Kato, Massuo Jorge; Lotufo, Letícia Veras Costa; Lopes, Norberto Peporine

2010-01-01

Synthetic metalloporphyrins, in the presence of monooxygen donors, are known to mimetize various reactions of cytochrome P450 enzymes systems in the oxidation of drugs and natural products. The oxidation of piperine and piplartine by iodosylbenzene using iron(III) and manganese(III) porphyrins yielded mono- and dihydroxylated products, respectively. Piplartine showed to be a more reactive substrate towards the catalysts tested. The structures of the oxidation products were proposed based on electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry.

Organocatalyzed Asymmetric α-Oxidation, α-Aminoxylation and α-Amination of Carbonyl Compounds

OpenAIRE

Worawan Bhanthumnavin; Tirayut Vilaivan

2010-01-01

Organocatalytic asymmetric α-oxidation and amination reactions of carbonyl compounds are highly useful synthetic methodologies, especially in generating chiral building blocks that previously have not been easily accessible by traditional methods. The concept is relatively new and therefore the list of new catalysts, oxidizing and aminating reagents, as well as new substrates, are expanding at an amazing rate. The scope of this review includes new reactions and catalysts, mechanistic aspects ...

Control theory meets synthetic biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Del Vecchio, Domitilla; Dy, Aaron J; Qian, Yili

2016-07-01

The past several years have witnessed an increased presence of control theoretic concepts in synthetic biology. This review presents an organized summary of how these control design concepts have been applied to tackle a variety of problems faced when building synthetic biomolecular circuits in living cells. In particular, we describe success stories that demonstrate how simple or more elaborate control design methods can be used to make the behaviour of synthetic genetic circuits within a single cell or across a cell population more reliable, predictable and robust to perturbations. The description especially highlights technical challenges that uniquely arise from the need to implement control designs within a new hardware setting, along with implemented or proposed solutions. Some engineering solutions employing complex feedback control schemes are also described, which, however, still require a deeper theoretical analysis of stability, performance and robustness properties. Overall, this paper should help synthetic biologists become familiar with feedback control concepts as they can be used in their application area. At the same time, it should provide some domain knowledge to control theorists who wish to enter the rising and exciting field of synthetic biology. © 2016 The Author(s).

Synthetic biology, metaphors and responsibility.

Science.gov (United States)

McLeod, Carmen; Nerlich, Brigitte

2017-08-29

Metaphors are not just decorative rhetorical devices that make speech pretty. They are fundamental tools for thinking about the world and acting on the world. The language we use to make a better world matters; words matter; metaphors matter. Words have consequences - ethical, social and legal ones, as well as political and economic ones. They need to be used 'responsibly'. They also need to be studied carefully - this is what we want to do through this editorial and the related thematic collection. In the context of synthetic biology, natural and social scientists have become increasingly interested in metaphors, a wave of interest that we want to exploit and amplify. We want to build on emerging articles and books on synthetic biology, metaphors of life and the ethical and moral implications of such metaphors. This editorial provides a brief introduction to synthetic biology and responsible innovation, as well as a comprehensive review of literature on the social, cultural and ethical impacts of metaphor use in genomics and synthetic biology. Our aim is to stimulate an interdisciplinary and international discussion on the impact that metaphors can have on science, policy and publics in the context of synthetic biology.

Bi-template assisted synthesis of mesoporous manganese oxide nanostructures: Tuning properties for efficient CO oxidation.

Science.gov (United States)

Roy, Mouni; Basak, Somjyoti; Naskar, Milan Kanti

2016-02-21

A simple soft bi-templating process was used for the synthesis of mesoporous manganese oxide nanostructures using KMnO4 as a precursor and polyethylene glycol and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as templates in the presence of benzaldehyde as an organic additive in alkaline media, followed by calcination at 400 °C. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopic analysis of the calcined products confirmed the existence of stoichiometric (MnO2 and Mn5O8) and non-stoichiometric mixed phases (MnO2 + Mn5O8) of Mn oxides obtained by tuning the concentration of the additive and the synthesis time. The surface properties of the prepared Mn oxides were determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The mesoporosity of the samples was confirmed by N2 adsorption-desorption. Different synthetic conditions resulted in the formation of different morphologies of the Mn oxides (α-MnO2, Mn5O8, and α-MnO2 + Mn5O8), such as nanoparticles, nanorods, and nanowires. The synthesized mesoporous Mn oxide nanostructures were used for the catalytic oxidation of the harmful air pollutant carbon monoxide. The Mn5O8 nanoparticles with the highest Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area and the non-stoichiometric manganese oxide (α-MnO2 + Mn5O8) nanorods with a higher Mn(3+) concentration had the best catalytic efficiency.

Approaches to chemical synthetic biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiarabelli, Cristiano; Stano, Pasquale; Anella, Fabrizio; Carrara, Paolo; Luisi, Pier Luigi

2012-07-16

Synthetic biology is first represented in terms of two complementary aspects, the bio-engineering one, based on the genetic manipulation of extant microbial forms in order to obtain forms of life which do not exist in nature; and the chemical synthetic biology, an approach mostly based on chemical manipulation for the laboratory synthesis of biological structures that do not exist in nature. The paper is mostly devoted to shortly review chemical synthetic biology projects currently carried out in our laboratory. In particular, we describe: the minimal cell project, then the "Never Born Proteins" and lastly the Never Born RNAs. We describe and critically analyze the main results, emphasizing the possible relevance of chemical synthetic biology for the progress in basic science and biotechnology. Copyright © 2012 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Precipitation of iron (III) using magnesium oxide in fluidized bed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Esteban-Bocardo, P. A.; Ferreira-Rocha, S. D.

2006-01-01

A process for iron (III) removal by hydroxide precipitation from and acid synthetic inorganic effluent using magnesium oxide as an alternative precipitant agent in a fluidized bed was developed. An acid synthetic inorganic effluent containing 100 and 200 mg/l of ferric ions (pH=1.0) was continuously fed up to the acrylic column (30 cm high and 2 cm diameter) during 180 minutes. Magnesium oxide pulp (3% v/v) was injected at the beginning of the experiment in order to allow the iron hydroxides precipitation. The concentration and pH profiles agreed in their curves, while the pH profile rose,the concentration profile decreased and a high percentage of iron removal /higher to 99%) was reached. Extremely low iron concentrations have been reached, thus permitting to attend to the environmental standard of 10.0 mg/l for discharge of effluent containing ferric ions established by the law DN 10/86 of COPAM (Conselho de Politica Ambiental do Estado de Minas Gerais-Brazil). (Author)

Synthetic Aperture Sequential Beamforming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kortbek, Jacob; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt; Gammelmark, Kim Løkke

2008-01-01

A synthetic aperture focusing (SAF) technique denoted Synthetic Aperture Sequential Beamforming (SASB) suitable for 2D and 3D imaging is presented. The technique differ from prior art of SAF in the sense that SAF is performed on pre-beamformed data contrary to channel data. The objective is to im......A synthetic aperture focusing (SAF) technique denoted Synthetic Aperture Sequential Beamforming (SASB) suitable for 2D and 3D imaging is presented. The technique differ from prior art of SAF in the sense that SAF is performed on pre-beamformed data contrary to channel data. The objective...... is to improve and obtain a more range independent lateral resolution compared to conventional dynamic receive focusing (DRF) without compromising frame rate. SASB is a two-stage procedure using two separate beamformers. First a set of Bmode image lines using a single focal point in both transmit and receive...... is stored. The second stage applies the focused image lines from the first stage as input data. The SASB method has been investigated using simulations in Field II and by off-line processing of data acquired with a commercial scanner. The performance of SASB with a static image object is compared with DRF...

Towards a synthetic chloroplast.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christina M Agapakis

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The evolution of eukaryotic cells is widely agreed to have proceeded through a series of endosymbiotic events between larger cells and proteobacteria or cyanobacteria, leading to the formation of mitochondria or chloroplasts, respectively. Engineered endosymbiotic relationships between different species of cells are a valuable tool for synthetic biology, where engineered pathways based on two species could take advantage of the unique abilities of each mutualistic partner.We explored the possibility of using the photosynthetic bacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 as a platform for studying evolutionary dynamics and for designing two-species synthetic biological systems. We observed that the cyanobacteria were relatively harmless to eukaryotic host cells compared to Escherichia coli when injected into the embryos of zebrafish, Danio rerio, or taken up by mammalian macrophages. In addition, when engineered with invasin from Yersinia pestis and listeriolysin O from Listeria monocytogenes, S. elongatus was able to invade cultured mammalian cells and divide inside macrophages.Our results show that it is possible to engineer photosynthetic bacteria to invade the cytoplasm of mammalian cells for further engineering and applications in synthetic biology. Engineered invasive but non-pathogenic or immunogenic photosynthetic bacteria have great potential as synthetic biological devices.

Scalable high-affinity stabilization of magnetic iron oxide nanostructures by a biocompatible antifouling homopolymer

KAUST Repository

Luongo, Giovanni; Campagnolo, Paola; Perez, Jose E.; Kosel, Jü rgen; Georgiou, Theoni K.; Regoutz, Anna; Payne, David J; Stevens, Molly M.; Ryan, Mary P.; Porter, Alexandra E; Dunlop, Iain E

2017-01-01

Iron oxide nanostructures have been widely developed for biomedical applications, due to their magnetic properties and biocompatibility. In clinical application, the stabilization of these nanostructures against aggregation and non-specific interactions is typically achieved using weakly anchored polysaccharides, with better-defined and more strongly anchored synthetic polymers not commercially adopted due to complexity of synthesis and use. Here, we show for the first time stabilization and biocompatibilization of iron oxide nanoparticles by a synthetic homopolymer with strong surface anchoring and a history of clinical use in other applications, poly(2-methacryloyloxyethy phosphorylcholine) (poly(MPC)). For the commercially important case of spherical particles, binding of poly(MPC) to iron oxide surfaces and highly effective individualization of magnetite nanoparticles (20 nm) are demonstrated. Next-generation high-aspect ratio nanowires (both magnetite/maghemite and core-shell iron/iron oxide) are furthermore stabilized by poly(MPC)-coating, with nanowire cytotoxicity at large concentrations significantly reduced. The synthesis approach is exploited to incorporate functionality into the poly(MPC) chain is demonstrated by random copolymerization with an alkyne-containing monomer for click-chemistry. Taking these results together, poly(MPC) homopolymers and random copolymers offer a significant improvement over current iron oxide nanoformulations, combining straightforward synthesis, strong surface-anchoring and well-defined molecular weight.

Scalable high-affinity stabilization of magnetic iron oxide nanostructures by a biocompatible antifouling homopolymer

KAUST Repository

Luongo, Giovanni

2017-10-12

Iron oxide nanostructures have been widely developed for biomedical applications, due to their magnetic properties and biocompatibility. In clinical application, the stabilization of these nanostructures against aggregation and non-specific interactions is typically achieved using weakly anchored polysaccharides, with better-defined and more strongly anchored synthetic polymers not commercially adopted due to complexity of synthesis and use. Here, we show for the first time stabilization and biocompatibilization of iron oxide nanoparticles by a synthetic homopolymer with strong surface anchoring and a history of clinical use in other applications, poly(2-methacryloyloxyethy phosphorylcholine) (poly(MPC)). For the commercially important case of spherical particles, binding of poly(MPC) to iron oxide surfaces and highly effective individualization of magnetite nanoparticles (20 nm) are demonstrated. Next-generation high-aspect ratio nanowires (both magnetite/maghemite and core-shell iron/iron oxide) are furthermore stabilized by poly(MPC)-coating, with nanowire cytotoxicity at large concentrations significantly reduced. The synthesis approach is exploited to incorporate functionality into the poly(MPC) chain is demonstrated by random copolymerization with an alkyne-containing monomer for click-chemistry. Taking these results together, poly(MPC) homopolymers and random copolymers offer a significant improvement over current iron oxide nanoformulations, combining straightforward synthesis, strong surface-anchoring and well-defined molecular weight.

Transferrin-derived synthetic peptide induces highly conserved pro-inflammatory responses of macrophages.

Science.gov (United States)

Haddad, George; Belosevic, Miodrag

2009-02-01

We examined the induction of macrophage pro-inflammatory responses by transferrin-derived synthetic peptide originally identified following digestion of transferrin from different species (murine, bovine, human N-lobe and goldfish) using elastase. The mass spectrometry analysis of elastase-digested murine transferrin identified a 31 amino acid peptide located in the N2 sub-domain of the transferrin N-lobe, that we named TMAP. TMAP was synthetically produced and shown to induce a number of pro-inflammatory genes by quantitative PCR. TMAP induced chemotaxis, a potent nitric oxide response, and TNF-alpha secretion in different macrophage populations; P338D1 macrophage-like cells, mouse peritoneal macrophages, mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDM) and goldfish macrophages. The treatment of BMDM cultures with TMAP stimulated the production of nine cytokines and chemokines (IL-6, MCP-5, MIP-1 alpha, MIP-1 gamma, MIP-2, GCSF, KC, VEGF, and RANTES) that was measured using cytokine antibody array and confirmed by Western blot. Our results indicate that transferrin-derived peptide, TMAP, is an immunomodulating molecule capable of inducing pro-inflammatory responses in lower and higher vertebrates.

Oxidation behavior of U-Si compounds in air from 25 to 1000 C

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sooby Wood, E., E-mail: sooby@lanl.gov; White, J.T.; Nelson, A.T.

2017-02-15

The air oxidation behavior of U{sub 3}Si{sub 2}, USi, and U{sub 3}Si{sub 5} is studied from room temperature to 1000 C. The onsets of breakaway oxidation for each compound are identified during synthetic air ramps to 1000 C using thermogravimetric analysis. Isothermal air oxidation tests are performed below and above the breakaway oxidation onset to discern the oxidation kinetic behavior of these candidate accident tolerant fuel forms. Uranium metal is tested in the same manner to provide a reference for the oxidation behavior. Thermogravimetric, x-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy analysis are presented here along with a discussion of the oxidation behavior of these materials and the impact of the lack of oxidation resistance to their deployment as accident tolerant nuclear fuels.

Synthetic Biology: Advancing Biological Frontiers by Building Synthetic Systems

OpenAIRE

Chen, Yvonne Yu-Hsuan; Galloway, Kate E; Smolke, Christina D

2012-01-01

Advances in synthetic biology are contributing to diverse research areas, from basic biology to biomanufacturing and disease therapy. We discuss the theoretical foundation, applications, and potential of this emerging field.

Synthetic biology: an emerging engineering discipline.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Allen A; Lu, Timothy K

2012-01-01

Over the past decade, synthetic biology has emerged as an engineering discipline for biological systems. Compared with other substrates, biology poses a unique set of engineering challenges resulting from an incomplete understanding of natural biological systems and tools for manipulating them. To address these challenges, synthetic biology is advancing from developing proof-of-concept designs to focusing on core platforms for rational and high-throughput biological engineering. These platforms span the entire biological design cycle, including DNA construction, parts libraries, computational design tools, and interfaces for manipulating and probing synthetic circuits. The development of these enabling technologies requires an engineering mindset to be applied to biology, with an emphasis on generalizable techniques in addition to application-specific designs. This review aims to discuss the progress and challenges in synthetic biology and to illustrate areas where synthetic biology may impact biomedical engineering and human health.

Synthetic peptides for antibody production

NARCIS (Netherlands)

N.D. Zegers (Netty)

1995-01-01

textabstractSynthetic peptides are useful tools for the generation of antibodies. The use of antibodies as specific reagents in inununochemical assays is widely applied. In this chapter, the application of synthetic peptides for the generation of antibodies is described. The different steps

Synthesis of gold nanoparticles with graphene oxide.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Wenshuo; He, Dawei; Zhang, Xiqing; Duan, Jiahua; Wu, Hongpeng; Xu, Haiteng; Wang, Yongsheng

2014-05-01

Single sheets of functionalized graphene oxide are derived through chemical exfoliation of natural flake graphite. We present an effective synthetic method of graphene-gold nanoparticles hybrid nanocomposites. AFM (Atomic Force Microscope) was used to measure the thickness of the individual GO nanosheet. FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) spectroscopy was used to verify the attachment of oxygen functionalities on the surface of graphene oxide. TEM (Transmission Electron Microscope) data revealed the average diameters of the gold colloids and characterized the composite particles situation. Absorption spectroscopy showed that before and after synthesis the gold particle size did not change. Our studies indicate that the hybrid is potential substrates for catalysts and biosensors.

Synthetic LDL as targeted drug delivery vehicle

Science.gov (United States)

Forte, Trudy M [Berkeley, CA; Nikanjam, Mina [Richmond, CA

2012-08-28

The present invention provides a synthetic LDL nanoparticle comprising a lipid moiety and a synthetic chimeric peptide so as to be capable of binding the LDL receptor. The synthetic LDL nanoparticle of the present invention is capable of incorporating and targeting therapeutics to cells expressing the LDL receptor for diseases associated with the expression of the LDL receptor such as central nervous system diseases. The invention further provides methods of using such synthetic LDL nanoparticles.

Programming languages for synthetic biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Umesh, P; Naveen, F; Rao, Chanchala Uma Maheswara; Nair, Achuthsankar S

2010-12-01

In the backdrop of accelerated efforts for creating synthetic organisms, the nature and scope of an ideal programming language for scripting synthetic organism in-silico has been receiving increasing attention. A few programming languages for synthetic biology capable of defining, constructing, networking, editing and delivering genome scale models of cellular processes have been recently attempted. All these represent important points in a spectrum of possibilities. This paper introduces Kera, a state of the art programming language for synthetic biology which is arguably ahead of similar languages or tools such as GEC, Antimony and GenoCAD. Kera is a full-fledged object oriented programming language which is tempered by biopart rule library named Samhita which captures the knowledge regarding the interaction of genome components and catalytic molecules. Prominent feature of the language are demonstrated through a toy example and the road map for the future development of Kera is also presented.

iNOS Activity Modulates Inflammation, Angiogenesis, and Tissue Fibrosis in Polyether-Polyurethane Synthetic Implants.

Science.gov (United States)

Cassini-Vieira, Puebla; Araújo, Fernanda Assis; da Costa Dias, Filipi Leles; Russo, Remo Castro; Andrade, Silvia Passos; Teixeira, Mauro Martins; Barcelos, Luciola Silva

2015-01-01

There is considerable interest in implantation techniques and scaffolds for tissue engineering and, for safety and biocompatibility reasons, inflammation, angiogenesis, and fibrosis need to be determined. The contribution of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in the regulation of the foreign body reaction induced by subcutaneous implantation of a synthetic matrix was never investigated. Here, we examined the role of iNOS in angiogenesis, inflammation, and collagen deposition induced by polyether-polyurethane synthetic implants, using mice with targeted disruption of the iNOS gene (iNOS(-/-)) and wild-type (WT) mice. The hemoglobin content and number of vessels were decreased in the implants of iNOS(-/-) mice compared to WT mice 14 days after implantation. VEGF levels were also reduced in the implants of iNOS(-/-) mice. In contrast, the iNOS(-/-) implants exhibited an increased neutrophil and macrophage infiltration. However, no alterations were observed in levels of CXCL1 and CCL2, chemokines related to neutrophil and macrophage migration, respectively. Furthermore, the implants of iNOS(-/-) mice showed boosted collagen deposition. These data suggest that iNOS activity controls inflammation, angiogenesis, and fibrogenesis in polyether-polyurethane synthetic implants and that lack of iNOS expression increases foreign body reaction to implants in mice.

iNOS Activity Modulates Inflammation, Angiogenesis, and Tissue Fibrosis in Polyether-Polyurethane Synthetic Implants

Science.gov (United States)

Cassini-Vieira, Puebla; Araújo, Fernanda Assis; da Costa Dias, Filipi Leles; Russo, Remo Castro; Andrade, Silvia Passos; Teixeira, Mauro Martins; Barcelos, Luciola Silva

2015-01-01

There is considerable interest in implantation techniques and scaffolds for tissue engineering and, for safety and biocompatibility reasons, inflammation, angiogenesis, and fibrosis need to be determined. The contribution of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in the regulation of the foreign body reaction induced by subcutaneous implantation of a synthetic matrix was never investigated. Here, we examined the role of iNOS in angiogenesis, inflammation, and collagen deposition induced by polyether-polyurethane synthetic implants, using mice with targeted disruption of the iNOS gene (iNOS−/−) and wild-type (WT) mice. The hemoglobin content and number of vessels were decreased in the implants of iNOS−/− mice compared to WT mice 14 days after implantation. VEGF levels were also reduced in the implants of iNOS−/− mice. In contrast, the iNOS−/− implants exhibited an increased neutrophil and macrophage infiltration. However, no alterations were observed in levels of CXCL1 and CCL2, chemokines related to neutrophil and macrophage migration, respectively. Furthermore, the implants of iNOS−/− mice showed boosted collagen deposition. These data suggest that iNOS activity controls inflammation, angiogenesis, and fibrogenesis in polyether-polyurethane synthetic implants and that lack of iNOS expression increases foreign body reaction to implants in mice. PMID:26106257

Kinetics of FeII-polyaminocarboxylate oxidation by molecular oxygen

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Jessica M.; Farley, Kevin J.; Carbonaro, Richard F.

2018-03-01

Complexation of iron by naturally-occurring and synthetic organic ligands has a large effect on iron oxidation and reduction rates which in turn affect the aqueous geochemistry of many other chemical constituents. In this study, the kinetics of FeII oxidation in the presence of the polyaminocarboxylate synthetic chelating agents ethylene glycol tetraacetic acid (EGTA) and trimethylenediamine-N,N,N‧,N‧-tetraacetic acid (TMDTA) was investigated over the pH range 5.50-8.53. Batch oxidation experiments in the presence of molecular oxygen were conducted using a 2:1 M concentration ratio of polyaminocarboxylate (ligand, L) to FeII. The experimental data resembled first order kinetics for the oxidation of FeII-L to FeIII-L and observed rate constants at pH 6.0 were comparable to rate constants for the oxidation of inorganic FeII. Similar to other structurally-similar FeII-polyaminocarboxylate complexes, oxidation rates of FeII-EGTA and FeII-TMDTA decrease with increasing pH, which is the opposite trend for the oxidation of FeII complexed with inorganic ligands. However, the oxidation rates of FeII complexed with EGTA and TMDTA were considerably lower (4-5 orders of magnitude) than FeII complexed to ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). The distinguishing feature of the slower-reacting complexes is that they have a longer backbone between diamine functional groups. An analytical equilibrium model was developed to determine the contributions of the species FeIIL2- and FeII(H)L- to the overall oxidation rate of FeII-L. Application of this model indicated that the protonated FeII(H)L species are more than three orders of magnitude more reactive than FeIIL2-. These rate constants were used in a coupled kinetic equilibrium numerical model where the ligand to iron ratio (TOTL:TOTFe) and pH were varied to evaluate the effect on the FeII oxidation rate. Overall, increasing TOTL:TOTFe for EGTA and TMDTA enhances FeII oxidation rates at lower pH and inhibits FeII oxidation

Graft copolymerization of acrylo–nitrile onto delignified native bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris cellulosic and its utilization potential for heavy metal uptake from aqueous medium

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.O. EKEBAFE

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Graft polymerization of acrylonitrile onto delingnified cellulosic material obtained from Nigeria grown bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris could be initiated by a ceric ammonium nitrate redox system. Optimization of grafting of acrylonitrile onto cellulosic material was performed by varying the reaction conditions, such as the duration of soaking of cellulosic material in ceric ammonium nitrate solution, concentration of ceric ammonium nitrate solution, polymerization time, temperature of reaction, and acrylonitrile concentration and saponification time, in order to study their influence on percent grafting yield and grafting efficiency. The resulting cellulosic-g-polyacrylonitrile (PAN copolymers were fractionated by extraction at 33 C with N,N’-dimethylformamide. Fractions were characterized by determining both the % add-on and the free polymer. Saponification of grafted copolymer was done by reaction with sodium hydroxide followed by methanol precipitation. The absorbent polymer so produced gave fair water retention values. The optimum reaction conditions obtained were: 20 mmol/L ceric ammonium nitrate solution in 1% nitric acid, soaking duration of 0.5 h at 40 C for a polymerization time of 2 h and saponification time of 3 h. The percent grafting was 167.89%, grafting efficiency was 93.52% and water retention value was 389 g/g. The grafting was confirmed using FTIR. Sorption of different metal ions in the mixture, e.g. Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu and Pb, by grafted cellulosic and the hydrogel was also investigated. Hydrolysis increases the sorption affinity of grafted cellulose toward water and metal ions.

Synthetic biology as red herring.

Science.gov (United States)

Preston, Beth

2013-12-01

It has become commonplace to say that with the advent of technologies like synthetic biology the line between artifacts and living organisms, policed by metaphysicians since antiquity, is beginning to blur. But that line began to blur 10,000 years ago when plants and animals were first domesticated; and has been thoroughly blurred at least since agriculture became the dominant human subsistence pattern many millennia ago. Synthetic biology is ultimately only a late and unexceptional offshoot of this prehistoric development. From this perspective, then, synthetic biology is a red herring, distracting us from more thorough philosophical consideration of the most truly revolutionary human practice-agriculture. In the first section of this paper I will make this case with regard to ontology, arguing that synthetic biology crosses no ontological lines that were not crossed already in the Neolithic. In the second section I will construct a parallel case with regard to cognition, arguing that synthetic biology as biological engineering represents no cognitive advance over what was required for domestication and the new agricultural subsistence pattern it grounds. In the final section I will make the case with regard to human existence, arguing that synthetic biology, even if wildly successful, is not in a position to cause significant existential change in what it is to be human over and above the massive existential change caused by the transition to agriculture. I conclude that a longer historical perspective casts new light on some important issues in philosophy of technology and environmental philosophy. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

US Competitiveness in Synthetic Biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Gronvall, Gigi Kwik

2015-01-01

Synthetic biology is an emerging technical field that aims to make biology easier to engineer; the field has applications in strategically important sectors for the US economy. While the United States currently leads in synthetic biology R&D, other nations are heavily investing in order to boost their economies, which will inevitably diminish the US leadership position. This outcome is not entirely negative--additional investments will expand markets--but it is critical that the US government take steps to remain competitive: There are applications from which the US population and economy may benefit; there are specific applications with importance for national defense; and US technical leadership will ensure that US experts have a leading role in synthetic biology governance, regulation, and oversight. Measures to increase competitiveness in S&T generally are broadly applicable for synthetic biology and should be pursued. However, the US government will also need to take action on fundamental issues that will affect the field's development, such as countering anti-GMO (genetically modified organism) sentiments and anti-GMO legislation. The United States should maintain its regulatory approach so that it is the product that is regulated, not the method used to create a product. At the same time, the United States needs to ensure that the regulatory framework is updated so that synthetic biology products do not fall into regulatory gaps. Finally, the United States needs to pay close attention to how synthetic biology applications may be governed internationally, such as through the Nagoya Protocol of the Convention on Biological Diversity, so that beneficial applications may be realized.

Synthetic Biology: Mapping the Scientific Landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Oldham, Paul; Hall, Stephen; Burton, Geoff

2012-01-01

This article uses data from Thomson Reuters Web of Science to map and analyse the scientific landscape for synthetic biology. The article draws on recent advances in data visualisation and analytics with the aim of informing upcoming international policy debates on the governance of synthetic biology by the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. We use mapping techniques to identify how synthetic biology can best be understood and the range of institutions, researchers and funding agencies involved. Debates under the Convention are likely to focus on a possible moratorium on the field release of synthetic organisms, cells or genomes. Based on the empirical evidence we propose that guidance could be provided to funding agencies to respect the letter and spirit of the Convention on Biological Diversity in making research investments. Building on the recommendations of the United States Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues we demonstrate that it is possible to promote independent and transparent monitoring of developments in synthetic biology using modern information tools. In particular, public and policy understanding and engagement with synthetic biology can be enhanced through the use of online interactive tools. As a step forward in this process we make existing data on the scientific literature on synthetic biology available in an online interactive workbook so that researchers, policy makers and civil society can explore the data and draw conclusions for themselves. PMID:22539946

Determination of the point-of-zero, charge of manganese oxides with different methods including an improved salt titration method

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tan, W.F.; Lu, S.J.; Liu, F.; Feng, X.H.; He, J.Z.; Koopal, L.K.

2008-01-01

Manganese (Mn) oxides are important components in soils and sediments. Points-of-zero charge (PZC) of three synthetic Mn oxides (birnessite, cryptomelane, and todorokite) were determined by using three classical techniques (potentiometric titration or PT, rapid PT or R-PT, and salt titration or ST)

Physical and chemical characterization of synthetic calcined sludge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Slates, R.V.; Mosley, W.C. Jr.; Tiffany, B.; Stone, J.A.

1982-03-01

Calcined synthetic sludge was chemically characterized in support of engineering studies to design a processing plant to solidify highly radioactive waste at the Savannah River Plant. An analytical technique is described which provides quantitative data by mass spectrometric analysis of gases evolved during thermogravimetric analysis without measurements of gas flow rates or mass spectrometer sensitivities. Scanning electron microprobe analysis, Mossbauer spectroscopy, and several other common analytical methods were also used. Calcined sludge consists primarily of amorphous particles of hydrous oxides with iron, manganese, nickel, and calcium distributed fairly uniformly throughout the powder. Iron, manganese, nickel, and calcium exist in forms that are highly insoluble in water, but aluminum, sulfate, nitrate, and sodium exhibit relative water solubilities that increase in the given order from 60% to 94%. Evolved gas analysis in a helium atmosphere showed that calcined sludge is completely dehydrated by heating to 400 0 C, carbon dioxide is evolved between 100 to 700 0 C with maximum evolution at 500 0 C, and oxygen is evolved between 400 and 1000 0 C. Evolved gas analyses are also reported for uncalcined sludge. A spinel-type oxide similar to NiFe 2 O 4 was detected by x-ray diffraction analysis at very low-level in calcined sludge

Synthetic peptides for antibody production

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zegers, N.D.

1995-01-01

Synthetic peptides are useful tools for the generation of antibodies. The use of antibodies as specific reagents in inununochemical assays is widely applied. In this chapter, the application of synthetic peptides for the generation of antibodies is described. The different steps that lead to the

The Ethics of Synthetic Biology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Andreas

The dissertation analyses and discusses a number of ethical issues that have been raised in connection with the development of synthetic biology. Synthetic biology is a set of new techniques for DNA-level design and construction of living beings with useful properties. The dissertation especially...

Content metamorphosis in synthetic holography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Desbiens, Jacques

2013-01-01

A synthetic hologram is an optical system made of hundreds of images amalgamated in a structure of holographic cells. Each of these images represents a point of view on a three-dimensional space which makes us consider synthetic holography as a multiple points of view perspective system. In the composition of a computer graphics scene for a synthetic hologram, the field of view of the holographic image can be divided into several viewing zones. We can attribute these divisions to any object or image feature independently and operate different transformations on image content. In computer generated holography, we tend to consider content variations as a continuous animation much like a short movie. However, by composing sequential variations of image features in relation with spatial divisions, we can build new narrative forms distinct from linear cinematographic narration. When observers move freely and change their viewing positions, they travel from one field of view division to another. In synthetic holography, metamorphoses of image content are within the observer's path. In all imaging Medias, the transformation of image features in synchronisation with the observer's position is a rare occurrence. However, this is a predominant characteristic of synthetic holography. This paper describes some of my experimental works in the development of metamorphic holographic images.

Comparison of various oxidative treatments for removal of reactive ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Activated User

Largest industrial production of wastewater is related with textile industries involved in ... (for example, acid red 73, acid red 14, acid orange 8 and acid orange 7). ... The synthetic dye solutions were treated with KMnO4, H2O2, ferrioxalate and .... previous data that hydrogen peroxide is not a practicable oxidizing method ...

Transformation from layered to tunnel structures: Synthesis, characterization, and applications of manganese oxide octahedral molecular sieves

Science.gov (United States)

Xia, Guan-Guang

Manganese oxide based octahedral molecular sieves (OMS) have been found to have a wide variety of applications as catalysts, absorbents, and battery materials due to their unique structures and physical and chemical properties. OMS materials are made up of manganese oxide octahedral building blocks sharing comers and edges to form tunnel structures. Manganese species in the framework of OMS materials are mixed valent with various ion-exchangeable cations residing in the tunnels playing important roles in charge balancing and special chemical activities. With different synthetic parameters such as the template used, temperature, pressure, and the pH of the synthetic media, layered birnessite materials were hydrothermally transformed into distinct tunnel structures with different tunnel sizes, including Mg-3x3 (OMS-1), NH4-2x2 (NH4-OMS-2), Na-2x4 (OMS-5), and other manganese oxides. Characterization of the OMS materials with a wide variety of instruments has revealed that most of them are nano-fibrous hollow crystals ith large surface areas, high ion-exchange capabilities, and relatively high thermal stabilities. The Na-2x4 tunnel structure sodium MnOx has been synthesized for the first time and studied in detail, including synthetic strategies, structural analyses, and other physical and chemical property analyses. As catalysts, the synthetic OMS materials show high catalytic activities and shape-selective properties. For example, the results of the competitive oxidation of cycloalkanes with tertiary butyl hydrogen peroxide (TBHP) over different tunnel sized ONIS materials have proven that the OMS materials with larger tunnels are more favorable for the oxidation of the biggest molecule, cyclooctane, than the smallest one, cyclohexane. Besides the tunnel size effects, tunnel cations in the OMS materials also have influences on their catalytic activities. The study of carbon monoxide cleanup for fuel cell applications demonstrates that Ag-OMS-2 (a hollandite

Multiply-Imputed Synthetic Data: Advice to the Imputer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Loong Bronwyn

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Several statistical agencies have started to use multiply-imputed synthetic microdata to create public-use data in major surveys. The purpose of doing this is to protect the confidentiality of respondents’ identities and sensitive attributes, while allowing standard complete-data analyses of microdata. A key challenge, faced by advocates of synthetic data, is demonstrating that valid statistical inferences can be obtained from such synthetic data for non-confidential questions. Large discrepancies between observed-data and synthetic-data analytic results for such questions may arise because of uncongeniality; that is, differences in the types of inputs available to the imputer, who has access to the actual data, and to the analyst, who has access only to the synthetic data. Here, we discuss a simple, but possibly canonical, example of uncongeniality when using multiple imputation to create synthetic data, which specifically addresses the choices made by the imputer. An initial, unanticipated but not surprising, conclusion is that non-confidential design information used to impute synthetic data should be released with the confidential synthetic data to allow users of synthetic data to avoid possible grossly conservative inferences.

Enzymatic biosensors based on the use of metal oxide nanoparticles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shi, Xinhao; Gu, Wei; Li, Bingyu; Chen, Ningning; Zhao, Kai; Xian, Yuezhong

2014-01-01

Over the past decades, various techniques have been developed to obtain materials at a nanoscale level to design biosensors with high sensitivity, selectivity and efficiency. Metal oxide nanoparticles (MONPs) are of particular interests and have received much attention because of their unique physical, chemical and catalytic properties. This review summarizes the progress made in enzymatic biosensors based on the use of MONPs. Synthetic methods, strategies for immobilization, and the functions of MONPs in enzymatic biosensing systems are reviewed and discussed. The article is subdivided into sections on enzymatic biosensors based on (a) zinc oxide nanoparticles, (b) titanium oxide nanoparticles, (c) iron oxide nanoparticles, and (d) other metal oxide nanoparticles. While substantial advances have been made in MONPs-based enzymatic biosensors, their applications to real samples still lie ahead because issues such as reproducibility and sensor stability have to be solved. (author)

Functionality of the iron oxides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castano, J.G.; Arroyave, C.

1998-01-01

Some iron oxides have a great scientific and technological possibilities, not only for their importance in the present, but also for their great potential in the development of the future technologies. They have adequate properties to carry out several functions. They are plentiful in the nature and their synthetic obtention is not complex. This paper shows five of them (hematite, magnetite, maghemite, goethite and akaganeite) and their utilization in fields like chemical industry, biotechnology medicine, new materials and electromagnetism. (Author) 77 refs

Iron oxide nanotubes synthesized via template-based electrodeposition

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Jin-Hee; Min, Seong-Gi; Malkinski, Leszek; Wiley, John B.

2014-04-01

Considerable effort has been invested in the development of synthetic methods for the preparation iron oxide nanostructures for applications in nanotechnology. While a variety of structures have been reported, only a few studies have focused on iron oxide nanotubes. Here, we present details on the synthesis and characterization of iron oxide nanotubes along with a proposed mechanism for FeOOH tube formation. The FeOOH nanotubes, fabricated via a template-based electrodeposition method, are found to exhibit a unique inner-surface. Heat treatment of these tubes under oxidizing or reducing atmospheres can produce either hematite (α-Fe2O3) or magnetite (Fe3O4) structures, respectively. Hematite nanotubes are composed of small nanoparticles less than 20 nm in diameter and the magnetization curves and FC-ZFC curves show superparamagnetic properties without the Morin transition. In the case of magnetite nanotubes, which consist of slightly larger nanoparticles, magnetization curves show ferromagnetism with weak coercivity at room temperature, while FC-ZFC curves exhibit the Verwey transition at 125 K.Considerable effort has been invested in the development of synthetic methods for the preparation iron oxide nanostructures for applications in nanotechnology. While a variety of structures have been reported, only a few studies have focused on iron oxide nanotubes. Here, we present details on the synthesis and characterization of iron oxide nanotubes along with a proposed mechanism for FeOOH tube formation. The FeOOH nanotubes, fabricated via a template-based electrodeposition method, are found to exhibit a unique inner-surface. Heat treatment of these tubes under oxidizing or reducing atmospheres can produce either hematite (α-Fe2O3) or magnetite (Fe3O4) structures, respectively. Hematite nanotubes are composed of small nanoparticles less than 20 nm in diameter and the magnetization curves and FC-ZFC curves show superparamagnetic properties without the Morin transition

Is synthetic biology mechanical biology?

Science.gov (United States)

Holm, Sune

2015-12-01

A widespread and influential characterization of synthetic biology emphasizes that synthetic biology is the application of engineering principles to living systems. Furthermore, there is a strong tendency to express the engineering approach to organisms in terms of what seems to be an ontological claim: organisms are machines. In the paper I investigate the ontological and heuristic significance of the machine analogy in synthetic biology. I argue that the use of the machine analogy and the aim of producing rationally designed organisms does not necessarily imply a commitment to mechanical biology. The ideal of applying engineering principles to biology is best understood as expressing recognition of the machine-unlikeness of natural organisms and the limits of human cognition. The paper suggests an interpretation of the identification of organisms with machines in synthetic biology according to which it expresses a strategy for representing, understanding, and constructing living systems that are more machine-like than natural organisms.

Synthetic cannabis and acute ischemic stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernson-Leung, Miya E; Leung, Lester Y; Kumar, Sandeep

2014-01-01

An association between marijuana use and stroke has been previously reported. However, the health risks of newer synthetic cannabinoid compounds are less well known. We describe 2 cases that introduce a previously unreported association between synthetic cannabis use and ischemic stroke in young adults. A 22-year-old woman presented with dysarthria, left hemiplegia, and left hemianesthesia within hours of first use of synthetic cannabis. She was healthy and without identified stroke risk factors other than oral contraceptive use and a patent foramen ovale without venous thromboses. A 26-year-old woman presented with nonfluent aphasia, left facial droop, and left hemianesthesia approximately 12 hours after first use of synthetic cannabis. Her other stroke risk factors included migraine with aura, oral contraceptive use, smoking, and a family history of superficial thrombophlebitis. Both women were found to have acute, large-territory infarctions of the right middle cerebral artery. Our 2 cases had risk factors for ischemic stroke but were otherwise young and healthy and the onset of their deficits occurred within hours after first-time exposure to synthetic cannabis. Synthetic cannabis use is an important consideration in the investigation of stroke in young adults. Copyright © 2014 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Different cellular responses evoked by natural and stoichiometric synthetic chrysotile asbestos

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gazzano, Elena; Foresti, Elisabetta; Lesci, Isidoro Giorgio; Tomatis, Maura; Riganti, Chiara; Fubini, Bice; Roveri, Norberto; Ghigo, Dario

2005-01-01

The carcinogenic potency of asbestos, including chrysotile, is well established. Several physico-chemical features of the fibers appear implied, such as fibrous habit, size, crystallinity, morphology, and surface active metal ions, where free radical generation may take place. In contrast to other asbestos forms, iron is not a stoichiometric component of chrysotile, but is only present together with other extraneous ions as a magnesium- and silicon-replacing contaminant. To determine the role played by contaminating ions and morphological features of the fibers, a stoichiometric chrysotile with constant structure and morphology was synthesized in hydrothermal conditions. Free radical generation and the effects of these fibers on human lung epithelial A549 cells have been compared to that elicited by a well known toxic natural chrysotile (UICC A, from Rhodesia). After a 24-h incubation, the natural, but not the synthetic, form exerted a cytotoxic effect, detected as leakage of lactate dehydrogenase. Homolytic rupture of a C-H bond and lipoperoxidation in A549 cells took place in the presence of the natural, but not of the synthetic, chrysotile. Antioxidant systems were also affected differently. The pentose phosphate pathway and its regulatory enzyme glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase were markedly inhibited only by the natural specimen, which also caused a depletion of intracellular reduced glutathione in A549 cells. These results suggest that metal ions, fiber size and state of the surface play a crucial role in the oxidative stress caused by chrysotile asbestos. Stoichiometric synthetic fibers may thus be proposed as a reference standard (negative control) for toxicological studies

Detection of pyrrolizidine alkaloids using flow analysis with both acidic potassium permanganate and tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) chemiluminescence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gorman, Bree A.; Barnett, Neil W.; Bos, Richard

2005-01-01

For the first time, analytically useful chemiluminescence was elicited from the reactions of the pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Heliotrine, retronecine, supinine, monocrotaline and echinatine N-oxide yielded chemiluminescence upon reaction with tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) whilst lasiocarpine, its N-oxide and supinine elicited light upon reaction with acidic potassium permanganate. Detection limits for heliotrine were 1.25 x 10 -7 M and 9 x 10 -9 M for tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(III) perchlorate with flow injection analysis (FIA) and the silica-immobilised reagent (4-[4-(dichloromethylsilanyl)-butyl]-4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridine)bis (2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) with sequential injection analysis (SIA), respectively. Lasiocarpine was detectable at 1.4 x 10 -7 M using acidic potassium permanganate with FIA. Additionally, the silica-immobilised reagent was optimised with respect to the oxidant (ammonium ceric nitrate) concentration and the aspiration times which afforded a detection limit for codeine of 5 x 10 -10 M using SIA

Detection of pyrrolizidine alkaloids using flow analysis with both acidic potassium permanganate and tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) chemiluminescence

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gorman, Bree A. [School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Vic. 3217 (Australia); Barnett, Neil W. [School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Vic. 3217 (Australia)]. E-mail: barnie@deakin.edu.au; Bos, Richard [School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Vic. 3217 (Australia)

2005-06-13

For the first time, analytically useful chemiluminescence was elicited from the reactions of the pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Heliotrine, retronecine, supinine, monocrotaline and echinatine N-oxide yielded chemiluminescence upon reaction with tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) whilst lasiocarpine, its N-oxide and supinine elicited light upon reaction with acidic potassium permanganate. Detection limits for heliotrine were 1.25 x 10{sup -7} M and 9 x 10{sup -9} M for tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(III) perchlorate with flow injection analysis (FIA) and the silica-immobilised reagent (4-[4-(dichloromethylsilanyl)-butyl]-4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridine)bis (2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) with sequential injection analysis (SIA), respectively. Lasiocarpine was detectable at 1.4 x 10{sup -7} M using acidic potassium permanganate with FIA. Additionally, the silica-immobilised reagent was optimised with respect to the oxidant (ammonium ceric nitrate) concentration and the aspiration times which afforded a detection limit for codeine of 5 x 10{sup -10} M using SIA.

Nitrous oxide metabolism in nitrate-reducing bacteria: Physiology and regulatory mechanisms

OpenAIRE

Torres, Maria; Simon, Jorg; Rowley, Gary; Bedmar, Eulogio; Richardson, David; Gates, Andrew; Delgado, Maria

2016-01-01

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an important greenhouse gas (GHG) with substantial global warming potential and also contributes to ozone depletion through photochemical nit- ric oxide (NO) production in the stratosphere. The negative effects of N2O on climate and stratospheric ozone make N2O mitigation an international challenge. More than 60% of global N2O emissions are emitted from agricultural soils mainly due to the appli- cation of synthetic nitrogen-containing fertilizers. Thus, mitigation stra...

Novel green synthetic strategy to prepare ZnO nanocrystals using rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum L.) peel extract and its antibacterial applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Yuvakkumar, R; Suresh, J; Nathanael, A Joseph; Sundrarajan, M; Hong, S I

2014-08-01

In the present investigation, we report a sustainable novel green synthetic strategy to synthesis zinc oxide nanocrystals. This is the first report on sustainable biosynthesis of zinc oxide nanocrystals employing Nephelium lappaceum L., peel extract as a natural ligation agent. Green synthesis of zinc oxide nanocrystals was carried out via zinc-ellagate complex formation using rambutan peel wastes. The successful formation of zinc oxide nanocrystals was confirmed employing standard characterisation studies. A possible mechanism for the formation of ZnO nanocrystals with rambutan peel extract was also proposed. The prepared ZnO nanocrystals were coated on the cotton fabric and their antibacterial activity were analyzed. ZnO nanocrystals coated cotton showed good antibacterial activity towards Escherichia coli (E. coli), gram negative bacteria and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), gram positive bacteria. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Design and Development of Mixed-Metal Oxide Photocatalysts: the Band Engineering Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Boltersdorf, Jonathan Andrew

The design and development of mixed-metal oxides incorporating Ag(I), Pb(II), Sn(II), and Bi(III), i.e., with filled d10 or d10s2 electron configurations, have yielded new approaches to tune optical and photocatalytic properties for solar energy conversion. My research efforts in the area of solid-state photochemistry have focused on utilizing flux-mediated ion-exchange methods in conjunction with the band engineering approach to synthesize new materials for solar energy driven total water splitting. Layered perovskite phases and the polysomatic family of tantalate/niobate structures, with the general formula Am+ ( n+1)/mB(3 n+1)O(8n +3) (A = Na, Ag; B = Ta, Nb), have received increasing attention owing to their synthetic flexibility, tunable optical band gaps, and photocatalytic activities for total water splitting. Structures in the family of A m+ (n+1)/ mB(3n +1)O(8n+3) structures are based on the stacking of pentagonal bipyramidal layers, where n defines the average thickness (1 ≤ n ≤ 2) of the BO7 layers that alternate with isolated BO6 octahedra surrounded by A-site cations. Synthetic limitations in the discovery of new phases within the layered perovskites and the Am + (n+1)/mB(3 n+1)O(8n +3) structural families can be addressed with the aid of a metal-salt solvent, known as the molten-salt flux method. The flux synthetic route requires the use of an inorganic salt heated above its melting temperature in order to serve as a solvent system for crystallization. Molten fluxes allow for synthetic modification of particle characteristics and can enable the low temperature stabilization of new compositions and phases with limited stability using ion-exchange reactions (e.g., PbTa4O11, AgLaNb 2O7). Solid-state and flux-mediated exchange methods were utilized in order to synthetically explore and investigate the layered perovskites ALaNb2O7, AA2Nb3O 10, A'2La2Ti3O10 (A' = Rb, Ag; A = Ca, Sr), the Am+ (n+1)/mB 3n+1O(8 n+3) structural family (Am + = Na(I), Ag

Imaging with Synthetic Aperture Radar

CERN Document Server

Massonnet, Didier

2008-01-01

Describing a field that has been transformed by the recent availability of data from a new generation of space and airborne systems, the authors offer a synthetic geometrical approach to the description of synthetic aperture radar, one that addresses physicists, radar specialists, as well as experts in image processing.  

Post-Stroke Depression Modulation and in Vivo Antioxidant Activity of Gallic Acid and Its Synthetic Derivatives in a Murine Model System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seyed Fazel Nabavi

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Gallic acid (3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid, GA is a plant secondary metabolite, which shows antioxidant activity and is commonly found in many plant-based foods and beverages. Recent evidence suggests that oxidative stress contributes to the development of many human chronic diseases, including cardiovascular and neurodegenerative pathologies, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes and cancer. GA and its derivative, methyl-3-O-methyl gallate (M3OMG, possess physiological and pharmacological activities closely related to their antioxidant properties. This paper describes the antidepressive-like effects of intraperitoneal administration of GA and two synthetic analogues, M3OMG and P3OMG (propyl-3-O-methylgallate, in balb/c mice with post-stroke depression, a secondary form of depression that could be due to oxidative stress occurring during cerebral ischemia and the following reperfusion. Moreover, this study determined the in vivo antioxidant activity of these compounds through the evaluation of superoxide dismutase (SOD and catalase (Cat activity, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS and reduced glutathione (GSH levels in mouse brain. GA and its synthetic analogues were found to be active (at doses of 25 and 50 mg/kg in the modulation of depressive symptoms and the reduction of oxidative stress, restoring normal behavior and, at least in part, antioxidant endogenous defenses, with M3OMG being the most active of these compounds. SOD, TBARS, and GSH all showed strong correlation with behavioral parameters, suggesting that oxidative stress is tightly linked to the pathological processes involved in stroke and PSD. As a whole, the obtained results show that the administration of GA, M3OMG and P3OMG induce a reduction in depressive symptoms and oxidative stress.

Post-Stroke Depression Modulation and in Vivo Antioxidant Activity of Gallic Acid and Its Synthetic Derivatives in a Murine Model System.

Science.gov (United States)

Nabavi, Seyed Fazel; Habtemariam, Solomon; Di Lorenzo, Arianna; Sureda, Antoni; Khanjani, Sedigheh; Nabavi, Seyed Mohammad; Daglia, Maria

2016-04-28

Gallic acid (3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid, GA) is a plant secondary metabolite, which shows antioxidant activity and is commonly found in many plant-based foods and beverages. Recent evidence suggests that oxidative stress contributes to the development of many human chronic diseases, including cardiovascular and neurodegenerative pathologies, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes and cancer. GA and its derivative, methyl-3-O-methyl gallate (M3OMG), possess physiological and pharmacological activities closely related to their antioxidant properties. This paper describes the antidepressive-like effects of intraperitoneal administration of GA and two synthetic analogues, M3OMG and P3OMG (propyl-3-O-methylgallate), in balb/c mice with post-stroke depression, a secondary form of depression that could be due to oxidative stress occurring during cerebral ischemia and the following reperfusion. Moreover, this study determined the in vivo antioxidant activity of these compounds through the evaluation of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (Cat) activity, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) and reduced glutathione (GSH) levels in mouse brain. GA and its synthetic analogues were found to be active (at doses of 25 and 50 mg/kg) in the modulation of depressive symptoms and the reduction of oxidative stress, restoring normal behavior and, at least in part, antioxidant endogenous defenses, with M3OMG being the most active of these compounds. SOD, TBARS, and GSH all showed strong correlation with behavioral parameters, suggesting that oxidative stress is tightly linked to the pathological processes involved in stroke and PSD. As a whole, the obtained results show that the administration of GA, M3OMG and P3OMG induce a reduction in depressive symptoms and oxidative stress.

Dissolution studies of synthetic soddyite and uranophane

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Casas, I.; Perez, I.; Torrero, E.; Bruno, J.; Cera, E.; Duro, L.

1997-09-01

The dissolution of synthetically obtained soddyite and uranophane has been studied in solutions of low ionic strength. These are the likely final phases of the oxidative alternation pathway of uranium dioxide. The thermodynamic and kinetic dissolution properties of these phases have been determined at different bicarbonate concentrations. The solubilities determined in the experiments with soddyite correspond fairly well to the theoretical model calculated with a log K 0 s0 =3.9±0.7. For uranophane, the best fitting was obtained for a log K 0 s0 =11.7±0.6. The dissolution rate in the presence of bicarbonate gave for soddyite an average value of 6.8(±4.4) 10 -10 mol m -2 s -1 . For uranophane, under the same experimental conditions, the following dissolution rate equation has been derived: r 0 (mol m -2 s -1 )=10 -9±2. [HCO 3 - ] 0.69±0.09 2

The influence of antioxidant and post-synthetic treatment on the properties of biodegradable poly(butylene succinates modified with poly(propylene oxide

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

DRAGANA PEPIC

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Novel poly(ester–ethers based on poly(butylene succinate (PBS as the hard segments and 30 mass % of poly(propylene oxide (PPO as the soft segments were synthesized with varying amount of the antioxidant (N,N'-diphenyl-p-phenylenediamine, DPPD. The influences of the addition of DPPD and the impact of post-synthetic treatment by precipitation on the molecular structure, thermal and physical properties, as well as on the storage stability of the biodegradable aliphatic copolyesters, were investigated. The structure and composition of the copolymers were determined by means of 1H-NMR spectroscopy. The molecular weight and polydispersity of the poly(ester–ethers were evaluated from solution viscosity and GPC measurements. The thermal properties and stability were evaluated, respecttively, by means of DSC and non-isothermal thermogravimetry in an inert nitrogen atmosphere. The biodegradability potential of the polymers was studied in hydrolytic and enzymatic degradation tests with Candida cylindracea lipase by monitoring the weight loss of polymer films after incubation. The weight losses of the samples increased with time and were in the range from 1 to 5 mass % after 4 weeks. GPC analysis confirmed that there were changes in the molecular weight of the copolyesters during both hydrolytic and enzymatic degradation tests, leading to the conclusion that the degradation mechanism of poly(butylenes succinate modified with PPO occurred through surface erosion and bulk degradation.

A Comparison of Natural (D-α-tocopherol and Synthetic (DL-α-tocopherol Acetate Vitamin E Supplementation on the Growth Performance, Meat Quality and Oxidative Status of Broilers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Cheng

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The present study was conducted to compare the supplementation of natural (D-α-tocopherol and synthetic (DL-α-tocopherol acetate vitamin E on the growth performance, meat quality, muscular antioxidant capacity and genes expression related to oxidative status of broilers. A total of 144 1 day-old Arbor Acres broiler chicks were randomly allocated into 3 groups with 6 replicates of 8 birds each. Birds were given a basal diet (control group, and basal diet supplemented with either 20 IU D-α-tocopherol or DL-α-tocopherol acetate for 42 days, respectively. The results indicated that treatments did not alter growth performance of broilers (p>0.05. Compared with the control group, concentration of α-tocopherol in the breast muscle was increased by the supplementation of vitamin E (p0.05. It was concluded that vitamin E supplementation, especially the natural vitamin E, can enhance the retention of muscular α-tocopherol, improve meat quality and muscular antioxidant capacity of broilers.

[Treatment approaches for synthetic drug addiction].

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, Ohji

2015-09-01

In Japan, synthetic drugs have emerged since late 2000s, and cases of emergency visits and fatal traffic accidents due to acute intoxication have rapidly increased. The synthetic drugs gained popularity mainly because they were cheap and thought to be "legal". The Japanese government restricted not only production and distribution, but also its possession and use in April 2014. As the synthetic drug dependent patients have better social profiles compared to methamphetamine abusers, this legal sanction may have triggered the decrease in the number of synthetic drug dependent patient visits observed at Kanagawa Psychiatric Center since July 2014. Treatment of the synthetic drug dependent patients should begin with empathic inquiry into the motives and positive psychological effects of the drug use. In the maintenance phase, training patients to trust others and express their hidden negative emotions through verbal communications is essential. The recovery is a process of understanding the relationship between psychological isolation and drug abuse, and gaining trust in others to cope with negative emotions that the patients inevitably would face in their subsequent lives.

[Synthetic biology and rearrangements of microbial genetic material].

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Quan-Feng; Wang, Qian; Qi, Qing-Sheng

2011-10-01

As an emerging discipline, synthetic biology has shown great scientific values and application prospects. Although there have been many reviews of various aspects on synthetic biology over the last years, this article, for the first time, attempted to discuss the relationship and difference between microbial genetics and synthetic biology. We summarized the recent development of synthetic biology in rearranging microbial genetic materials, including synthesis, design and reduction of genetic materials, standardization of genetic parts and modularization of genetic circuits. The relationship between synthetic biology and microbial genetic engineering was also discussed in the paper.

Synthetic Biology and the Translational Imperative.

Science.gov (United States)

Heidari Feidt, Raheleh; Ienca, Marcello; Elger, Bernice Simone; Folcher, Marc

2017-12-18

Advances at the interface between the biological sciences and engineering are giving rise to emerging research fields such as synthetic biology. Harnessing the potential of synthetic biology requires timely and adequate translation into clinical practice. However, the translational research enterprise is currently facing fundamental obstacles that slow down the transition of scientific discoveries from the laboratory to the patient bedside. These obstacles including scarce financial resources and deficiency of organizational and logistic settings are widely discussed as primary impediments to translational research. In addition, a number of socio-ethical considerations inherent in translational research need to be addressed. As the translational capacity of synthetic biology is tightly linked to its social acceptance and ethical approval, ethical limitations may-together with financial and organizational problems-be co-determinants of suboptimal translation. Therefore, an early assessment of such limitations will contribute to proactively favor successful translation and prevent the promising potential of synthetic biology from remaining under-expressed. Through the discussion of two case-specific inventions in synthetic biology and their associated ethical implications, we illustrate the socio-ethical challenges ahead in the process of implementing synthetic biology into clinical practice. Since reducing the translational lag is essential for delivering the benefits of basic biomedical research to society at large and promoting global health, we advocate a moral obligation to accelerating translational research: the "translational imperative."

Synthetic biology era: Improving antibiotic's world.

Science.gov (United States)

Guzmán-Trampe, Silvia; Ceapa, Corina D; Manzo-Ruiz, Monserrat; Sánchez, Sergio

2017-06-15

The emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogen microorganisms is problematic in the context of the current spectrum of available medication. The poor specificity and the high toxicity of some available molecules have made imperative the search for new strategies to improve the specificity and to pursue the discovery of novel compounds with increased bioactivity. Using living cells as platforms, synthetic biology has counteracted this problem by offering novel pathways to create synthetic systems with improved and desired functions. Among many other biotechnological approaches, the advances in synthetic biology have made it possible to design and construct novel biological systems in order to look for new drugs with increased bioactivity. Advancements have also been made in the redesigning of RNA and DNA molecules in order to engineer antibiotic clusters for antibiotic overexpression. As for the production of these antibacterial compounds, yeasts and filamentous fungi as well as gene therapy are utilized to enhance protein solubility. Specific delivery is achieved by creating chimeras using plant genes into bacterial hosts. Some of these synthetic systems are currently in clinical trials, proving the proficiency of synthetic biology in terms of both pharmacological activities as well as an increase in the biosafety of treatments. It is possible that we may just be seeing the tip of the iceberg, and synthetic biology applications will overpass expectations beyond our present knowledge. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Synthetic bedding and wheeze in childhood.

Science.gov (United States)

Ponsonby, Anne-Louise; Dwyer, Terence; Kemp, Andrew; Cochrane, Jennifer; Couper, David; Carmichael, Allan

2003-01-01

The reasons for the increase in childhood asthma over time are unclear. The indoor environment is of particular concern. An adverse role for synthetic bedding on asthma development in childhood has been suggested by cross-sectional studies that have found an association between synthetic pillow use and childhood wheeze. Prospective data on infant bedding have not been available. Bedding data at 1 month of age were available from an infant survey for children who were participating in a 1995 follow-up study (N = 863; 78% traced). The 1995 follow-up was embedded in a larger cross-sectional survey involving 6,378 seven year olds in Tasmania (N = 92% of eligible). Outcome measures included respiratory symptoms as defined in the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood protocol. Frequent wheeze was defined as more than 12 wheeze episodes over the past year compared with no wheeze. Synthetic pillow use at 1 month of age was associated with frequent wheeze at age 7 (adjusted relative risk [aRR] = 2.5; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.2-5.5) independent of childhood exposure. Current synthetic pillow and quilt use was strongly associated with frequent wheeze (aRR = 5.2; CI = 1.3-20.6). Substantial trends were evident for an association of increasing number of synthetic bedding items with frequent wheeze and with increasing wheeze frequency. Among children with asthma, the age of onset of asthma occurred earlier if synthetic bedding was used in infancy. In this cohort, synthetic bedding was strongly and consistently associated with frequent childhood wheeze. The association did not appear to be attributable to bedding choice as part of an asthma management strategy.

Holey two-dimensional transition metal oxide nanosheets for efficient energy storage

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Lele; Xiong, Pan; Ma, Lu; Yuan, Yifei; Zhu, Yue; Chen, Dahong; Luo, Xiangyi; Lu, Jun; Amine, Khalil; Yu, Guihua

2017-04-01

Transition metal oxide nanomaterials are promising electrodes for alkali-ion batteries owing to their distinct reaction mechanism, abundant active sites and shortened ion diffusion distance. However, detailed conversion reaction processes in terms of the oxidation state evolution and chemical/mechanical stability of the electrodes are still poorly understood. Herein we explore a general synthetic strategy for versatile synthesis of various holey transition metal oxide nanosheets with adjustable hole sizes that enable greatly enhanced alkali-ion storage properties. We employ in-situ transmission electron microscopy and operando X-ray absorption structures to study the mechanical properties, morphology evolution and oxidation state changes during electrochemical processes. We find that these holey oxide nanosheets exhibit strong mechanical stability inherited from graphene oxide, displaying minimal structural changes during lithiation/delithiation processes. These holey oxide nanosheets represent a promising material platform for in-situ probing the electrochemical processes, and could open up opportunities in many energy storage and conversion systems.

Synthetic biology analysed tools for discussion and evaluation

CERN Document Server

2016-01-01

Synthetic biology is a dynamic, young, ambitious, attractive, and heterogeneous scientific discipline. It is constantly developing and changing, which makes societal evaluation of this emerging new science a challenging task, prone to misunderstandings. Synthetic biology is difficult to capture, and confusion arises not only regarding which part of synthetic biology the discussion is about, but also with respect to the underlying concepts in use. This book offers a useful toolbox to approach this complex and fragmented field. It provides a biological access to the discussion using a 'layer' model that describes the connectivity of synthetic or semisynthetic organisms and cells to the realm of natural organisms derived by evolution. Instead of directly reviewing the field as a whole, firstly our book addresses the characteristic features of synthetic biology that are relevant to the societal discussion. Some of these features apply only to parts of synthetic biology, whereas others are relevant to synthetic bi...

Synthetic Sling Failure - Evaluations and Recommendations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Henderson, C. S. [Washington River Protection Solutions, Richland, WA (United States); Mackey, Thomas C. [Washington River Protection Solutions, Richland, WA (United States)

2009-10-26

The information and evaluations provided in this report were compiled to address the recurring problem of synthetic sling failure. As safety is the number one priority in all work aspects, a solution must be devised to prevent accidents from occurring. A total of thirteen cases regarding synthetic sling failure were evaluated in order to determine their causes, effects, and preventative measures. From the collected data, it was found that all cases in which the synthetic sling contacted the edge of its load resulted in sling failure. It is required that adequate synthetic sling protection devices be used to protect slings in any lift where the sling comes in direct contact with the edge or corner of its load. However, there are no consensus codes or standards stating the type, material, or purpose of the type of protective device used to protect the sling from being cut. Numerous industry standards and codes provide vague descriptions on how to protect synthetic slings. Without a clear, concise statement of how to protect synthetic slings, it is common for inadequate materials and sling protection devices to be used in an attempt to meet the intent of these requirements. The use of an inadequate sling protection device is the main cause of synthetic sling failure in all researched cases. Commercial sling protection devices come in many shapes and sizes, and have a variety of names, as well as advertised uses. 'Abrasion pads' and 'wear protectors' are two different names for products with the same intended purpose. There is no distinguishable way to determine the extent of sling protection which these devices will provide, or what specific scenarios they are made for. This creates room for error in a field where error is unacceptable. This report provides a recommended action for hoisting and rigging activities which require synthetic slings to contact a load, as well as recommended changes to industry standards which will benefit overall

Synthetic biology meets tissue engineering.

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Jamie A; Cachat, Elise

2016-06-15

Classical tissue engineering is aimed mainly at producing anatomically and physiologically realistic replacements for normal human tissues. It is done either by encouraging cellular colonization of manufactured matrices or cellular recolonization of decellularized natural extracellular matrices from donor organs, or by allowing cells to self-organize into organs as they do during fetal life. For repair of normal bodies, this will be adequate but there are reasons for making unusual, non-evolved tissues (repair of unusual bodies, interface to electromechanical prostheses, incorporating living cells into life-support machines). Synthetic biology is aimed mainly at engineering cells so that they can perform custom functions: applying synthetic biological approaches to tissue engineering may be one way of engineering custom structures. In this article, we outline the 'embryological cycle' of patterning, differentiation and morphogenesis and review progress that has been made in constructing synthetic biological systems to reproduce these processes in new ways. The state-of-the-art remains a long way from making truly synthetic tissues, but there are now at least foundations for future work. © 2016 Authors; published by Portland Press Limited.

Catalytic oxidation of concentrated orange oil phase by synthetic metallic complexes biomimetic to MMO enzyme.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandes, Ilizandra A; Esmelindro, Maria Carolina; Corazza, Marcos L; Franceschi, Elton; Treichel, Helen; de Oliveira, Debora; Frizzo, Caren D; Oliveira, J Vladimir

2010-07-01

This paper reports the catalytic oxidation of the concentrated orange oil phase using the complexes [Fe(III)(BMPP)Cl(micro-O)Fe(III)Cl(3)], [Cu(II)(BTMEA)(2)Cl]Cl and [Co(II)(BMPP)]Cl(2) biomimetic to methane monooxygenase enzyme as catalysts and hydrogen peroxide as oxidant. The reaction products of oil oxidation, mainly nootkatone, were identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. A screening of catalysts was performed through a full 2(3) experimental design, varying the temperature from 30 to 70 degrees C, the catalyst concentration from 7.0 x 10(-4) to 1.5 x 10(-3) mol L(-1) and the oxidant/substrate molar ratio from 1:1 to 3:1. The results of reaction kinetics employing the most promising catalysts showed that conversions to nootkatone of up to 8% were achieved after 16 h at 70 degrees C. The results obtained in this study in terms of nootkatone production should be considered encouraging, since a real, industrially collected, raw material, instead of pure valencene, was employed in the reaction experiments, with a final content about ten times that present in the original concentrated oil.

Philosophy of Systems and Synthetic Biology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Green, Sara

2017-01-01

This entry aims to clarify how systems and synthetic biology contribute to and extend discussions within philosophy of science. Unlike fields such as developmental biology or molecular biology, systems and synthetic biology are not easily demarcated by a focus on a specific subject area or level...... of organization. Rather, they are characterized by the development and application of mathematical, computational, and synthetic modeling strategies in response to complex problems and challenges within the life sciences. Proponents of systems and synthetic biology often stress the necessity of a perspective...... that goes beyond the scope of molecular biology and genetic engineering, respectively. With the emphasis on systems and interaction networks, the approaches explicitly engage in one of the oldest philosophical discussions on the relationship between parts and wholes, or between reductionism and holism...

Defining the Synthetic Biology Supply Chain.

Science.gov (United States)

Frazar, Sarah L; Hund, Gretchen E; Bonheyo, George T; Diggans, James; Bartholomew, Rachel A; Gehrig, Lindsey; Greaves, Mark

Several recent articles have described risks posed by synthetic biology and spurred vigorous discussion in the scientific, commercial, and government communities about how to best detect, prevent, regulate, and respond to these risks. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's (PNNL) deep experience working with dual-use technologies for the nuclear industry has shown that analysis of supply chains can reveal security vulnerabilities and ways to mitigate security risk without hindering beneficial research and commerce. In this article, a team of experts in synthetic biology, data analytics, and national security describe the overall supply chain surrounding synthetic biology to illustrate new insights about the effectiveness of current regulations, the possible need for different screening approaches, and new technical solutions that could help identify or mitigate risks in the synthetic biology supply chain.

Characterization of synthetic peptides by mass spectrometry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Prabhala, Bala Krishna; Mirza, Osman Asghar; Højrup, Peter

2015-01-01

Mass spectrometry (MS) is well suited for analysis of the identity and purity of synthetic peptides. The sequence of a synthetic peptide is most often known, so the analysis is mainly used to confirm the identity and purity of the peptide. Here, simple procedures are described for MALDI......-TOF-MS and LC-MS of synthetic peptides....

Removal of 4-chlorophenol from synthetic wastewater by the granulated graphene oxide nano particles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A Eslami

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Introduction: 4-chlorophenols one of the most common pollutants in wastewater is generated from the chemical and petrochemical industries. It is due to the presence of chloride and benzene ring is resistant to biodegradation. In this study, the use of granulated graphene oxide nano particles as an adsorbent nanostructure with better properties than other adsorbents for Removal of 4- chlorophenol from aqueous solution were investigated Methods: This research was implemented during the year 2013-2014 where the Granules of Graphene oxide nanoparticles were prepared using sodium silicate and X-ray diffraction techniques and electron microscope were used to identify the morphology and structure of the adsorbent of.  Parameters  affecting the adsorption process such as initial concentration of  4-chlorophenol(5,10,15,20,25,30mg/L, amount of adsorbent(20,40,60,80% by weight, contact time (3,5,10,20,30 min and pH(4,6,7,8,9 were investigated by changing one factor at a time. Finally, the data fitness with Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms were showed. Results: Adsorption process reached to equilibrium after 20 minutes. 2 g/L of graphene oxide granules at 3 minutes and 7 = pH could remove 5 mg/L 4-chlorophenol up to 58%. Freundlich isotherm have describing adsorption process and R2 =0.92. Conclusion: Absorbed process by the granules of Graphene oxide nanoparticles is low-cost high-efficiency and it could used to reduce and eliminate environmental pollutants particularly aqueous solutions.  

Polyethylenimine-mediated synthetic insertion of gold nanoparticles into mesoporous silica nanoparticles for drug loading and biocatalysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Pandey, Prem C; Pandey, Govind; Narayan, Roger J

2017-03-27

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNPs) have been used as an efficient and safe carrier for drug delivery and biocatalysis. The surface modification of MSNPs using suitable reagents may provide a robust framework in which two or more components can be incorporated to give multifunctional capabilities (e.g., synthesis of noble metal nanoparticles within mesoporous architecture along with loading of a bioactive molecule). In this study, the authors reported on a new synthetic route for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) within (1) unmodified MSNPs and (2) 3-trihydroxysilylpropyl methylphosphonate-modified MSNPs. A cationic polymer, polyethylenimine (PEI), and formaldehyde were used to mediate synthetic incorporation of AuNPs within MSNPs. The AuNPs incorporated within the mesoporous matrix were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray analysis, and high-resolution scanning electron microscopy. PEI in the presence of formaldehyde enabled synthetic incorporation of AuNPs in both unmodified and modified MSNPs. The use of unmodified MSNPs was associated with an increase in the polycrystalline structure of the AuNPs within the MSNPs. The AuNPs within modified MSNPs showed better catalytic activity than those within unmodified MSNPs. MSNPs with an average size of 200 nm and with a pore size of 4-6 nm were used for synthetic insertion of AuNPs. It was found that the PEI coating enabled AuNPs synthesis within the mesopores in the presence of formaldehyde or tetrahydrofuran hydroperoxide at a temperature between 10 and 25 °C or at 60 °C in the absence of organic reducing agents. The as-made AuNP-inserted MSNPs exhibited enhanced catalytic activity. For example, these materials enabled rapid catalytic oxidation of the o-dianisidine substrate to produce a colored solution in proportion to the amount of H 2 O 2 generated as a function of glucose oxidase-catalyzed oxidation of glucose; a linear concentration range from 80 to

The emerging age of cell-free synthetic biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Mark Thomas; Wilding, Kristen M; Hunt, Jeremy M; Bennett, Anthony M; Bundy, Bradley C

2014-08-25

The engineering of and mastery over biological parts has catalyzed the emergence of synthetic biology. This field has grown exponentially in the past decade. As increasingly more applications of synthetic biology are pursued, more challenges are encountered, such as delivering genetic material into cells and optimizing genetic circuits in vivo. An in vitro or cell-free approach to synthetic biology simplifies and avoids many of the pitfalls of in vivo synthetic biology. In this review, we describe some of the innate features that make cell-free systems compelling platforms for synthetic biology and discuss emerging improvements of cell-free technologies. We also select and highlight recent and emerging applications of cell-free synthetic biology. Copyright © 2014 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated radiofrequency-based US measurement of common carotid intima-media thickness in RA patients treated with synthetic vs synthetic and biologic DMARDs.

Science.gov (United States)

Naredo, Esperanza; Möller, Ingrid; Corrales, Alfonso; Bong, David A; Cobo-Ibáñez, Tatiana; Corominas, Hector; Garcia-Vivar, Ma Luz; Macarrón, Pilar; Navio, Teresa; Richi, Patricia; Iagnocco, Annamaria; Garrido, Jesús; Martínez-Hernández, David

2013-02-01

To compare the carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) assessed with automated radiofrequency-based US in RA patients treated with synthetic vs synthetic and biologic DMARDs and controls. Ninety-four RA patients and 94 sex- and age-matched controls were prospectively recruited at seven centres. Cardiovascular (CV) risk factors and co-morbidities, RA characteristics and therapy were recorded. Common carotid artery (CCA)-IMT was assessed in RA patients and controls with automated radiofrequency-based US by the same investigator at each centre. Forty-five (47.9%) RA patients had been treated with synthetic DMARDs and 49 (52.1%) with synthetic and biologic DMARDs. There were no significant differences between the RA patients and controls in demographics, CV co-morbidities and CV disease. There were significantly more smokers among RA patients treated with synthetic and biologic DMARDs (P = 0.036). Disease duration and duration of CS and synthetic DMARD therapy was significantly longer in RA patients treated with synthetic and biologic DMARDs (P radiofrequency-based measurement of CCA-IMT can discriminate between RA patients treated with synthetic DMARDs vs RA patients treated with synthetic and biologic DMARDs.

Structural Investigations of Complex Oxides using Synchrotron Radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hans-Conrad zur Loye

2007-01-01

The work is a collaborative effort between Prof. Hanno zur Loye at the University of South Carolina and Dr. Tom Vogt at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The collaborative research focuses on the synthesis and the structural characterization of perovskites and perovskite related oxides and will target new oxide systems where we have demonstrated expertise in synthesis, yet lack the experimental capabilities to answer important structural issues. Synthetically, we will focus on two subgroups of perovskite structures, the double and triple perovskites, and the 2H-perovskite related oxides belonging to the A 3n+3m A(prime) 3M+n B 3m+n O 9m+6n family. In the first part of the proposal, our goal of synthesizing and structurally characterizing new ruthenium, iridium, rhodium and ruthenium containing double and triple perovskites, with the emphasis on exercising control over the oxidation state(s) of the metals, is described. These oxides will be of interest for their electronic and magnetic properties that will be investigated as well

Reactive removal of 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide vapors under visible light irradiation by cerium oxide modified highly porous zirconium (hydr) oxide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mitchell, Joshua K.; Arcibar-Orozco, Javier A.; Bandosz, Teresa J., E-mail: tbandosz@ccny.cuny.edu

2016-12-30

Highlights: • Microporous zirconium-cerium (hydr) oxides were synthetized. • Ce presence narrowed the band gap of the materials. • The samples showed a high efficiency for removal of CEES vapors. • 1,2-Bis (ethyl thio) ethane and ethyl vinyl sulfide were the main reaction products. • 5% (Ce/Zr mol) addition of cerium oxide results in the best performing material. - Abstract: Highly porous cerium oxide modified Zr(OH){sub 4} samples were synthesized using a simple one stage urea precipitation method. The amorphicity level of zirconium hydroxide did not change upon addition of cerium oxide particles. A unique aspect of the cerium oxide-modified materials is the presence of both the oxide (CeO{sub 2}) and hydroxide (Zr(OH){sub 4}) phases resulting in a unique microporous structure of the final material. Extensive characterization using various chemical and physical methods revealed significant differences in the surface features. All synthesized materials were microporous and small additions of cerium oxide affected the surface chemistry. These samples were found as effective catalysts for a decontamination of mustard gas surrogate, 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide (CEES). Cerium oxide addition significantly decreased the band gap of zirconium hydroxide. Ethyl vinyl sulfide and 1,2-bis (Ethyl thio) ethane were identified as surface reaction products.

Organic Synthetic Advanced Materials for Optoelectronic and Energy Applications (at National Taipei University of Technology)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yen, Hung-Ju [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Chemistry Division

2016-11-14

These slides cover Hung-Ju Yen's recent work in the synthesis and structural design of functional materials, which were further used for optoelectronic and energy applications, such as lithium ion battery, solar cell, LED, electrochromic, and fuel cells. This was for a job interview at National Taipei University of Technology. The following topics are detailed: current challenges for lithium-ion batteries; graphene, graphene oxide and nanographene; nanographenes with various functional groups; fine tune d-spacing through organic synthesis: varying functional group; schematic view of LIBs; nanographenes as LIB anode; rate performance (charging-discharging); electrochromic technology; electrochromic materials; advantages of triphenylamine; requirement of electrochromic materials for practical applications; low driving voltage and long cycle life; increasing the electroactive sites by multi-step synthetic procedures; synthetic route to starburst triarylamine-based polyamide; electrochromism ranging from visible to NIR region; transmissive to black electrochromism; RGB and CMY electrochromism.

Organic Synthetic Advanced Materials for Optoelectronic and Energy Applications (at Center for Condensed Matter Sciences)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yen, Hung-Ju [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Chemistry Division

2016-11-14

These slides cover Hung-Ju Yen's recent work in the synthesis and structural design of functional materials, which were further used for optoelectronic and energy applications, such as lithium ion battery, solar cell, LED, electrochromic, and fuel cells. This was for a job interview at Center for Condensed Matter Sciences. The following topics are detailed: current challenges for lithium-ion batteries; graphene, graphene oxide and nanographene; nanographenes with various functional groups; fine tune d-spacing through organic synthesis: varying functional group; schematic view of LIBs; nanographenes as LIB anode; rate performance (charging-discharging); electrochromic technology; electrochromic materials; advantages of triphenylamine; requirement of electrochromic materials for practical applications; low driving voltage and long cycle life; increasing the electroactive sites by multi-step synthetic procedures; synthetic route to starburst triarylamine-based polyamide; electrochromism ranging from visible to NIR region; transmissive to black electrochromism; RGB and CMY electrochromism.

Organic Synthetic Advanced Materials for Optoelectronic and Energy Applications (at National Sun Yat-sen University) 

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yen, Hung-Ju [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Chemistry Division

2016-11-14

These slides cover Hung-Ju Yen's recent work in the synthesis and structural design of functional materials, which were further used for optoelectronic and energy applications, such as lithium ion battery, solar cell, LED, electrochromic, and fuel cells. This was for a job interview at National Sun Yat-sen University. The following topics are detailed: current challenges for lithium-ion batteries; graphene, graphene oxide and nanographene; nanographenes with various functional groups; fine tune d-spacing through organic synthesis: varying functional group; schematic view of LIBs; nanographenes as LIB anode; rate performance (charging-discharging); electrochromic technology; electrochromic materials; advantages of triphenylamine; requirement of electrochromic materials for practical applications; low driving voltage and long cycle life; increasing the electroactive sites by multi-step synthetic procedures; synthetic route to starburst triarylamine-based polyamide; electrochromism ranging from visible to NIR region; transmissive to black electrochromism; RGB and CMY electrochromism.

Use of synthetic zeolites and other inorganic sorbents for the removal of radionuclides from aqueous wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Samantha, S.K.; Singh, I.J.; Jain, S.; Sathi, S.; Venkatesan, K.; Ramaswamy, M.; Theyyunni, T.K.; Siddiqui, H.R.

1997-01-01

Several synthetic zeolites and inorganic sorbents were tested in the laboratory for the sorption of various radionuclides present in radioactive aqueous waste streams originating from nuclear installations. The sorption of the critical radionuclides like 137 Cs, 90 Sr and 60 Co from level waste solutions was studied using the synthetic zeolites 4A, 13X and AR1 of Indian origin. Granulated forms of ammonium molybdophosphate and CaSO 4 -BaSO 4 eutectoid were tested for the sorption of cesium and strontium respectively, from acidic solutions. The removal of radiostrontium from alkaline salt-loaded intermediate level reprocessing wastes was studied using hydrous ferric oxide-activated carbon composite sorbent, hydrous titania and hydrous manganese dioxide.. The results of these investigations are expected to be of value in formulating radioactive waste treatment schemes for achieving high decontamination and volume reduction factors. (author). 12 refs, 5 figs, 18 tabs

Comparative analysis of graphite oxidation behaviour based on microstructure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Badenhorst, Heinrich, E-mail: heinrich.badenhorst@up.ac.za; Focke, Walter

2013-11-15

Two unidentified powdered graphite samples, from a natural and a synthetic origin respectively, were examined. These materials are intended for use in nuclear applications, but have an unknown treatment history since they are considered proprietary. In order to establish a baseline for comparison, the samples were compared to two commercial flake natural graphite samples with varying impurity levels. The samples were characterized by conventional techniques such as powder X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence. The results indicated that all four samples were very similar, with low impurity levels and good crystallinity, yet they exhibit remarkably different oxidation behaviours. The oxidized microstructures of the materials were examined using high-resolution scanning electron microscopy at low acceleration voltages. The relative influence of each factor affecting the oxidation was established, enabling a structured comparison of the different oxidative behaviours. Based on this analysis, it was possible to account for the measured differences in oxidative reactivity. The material with the lowest reactivity was a flake natural graphite which was characterized as having highly visible crystalline perfection, large particles with a high aspect ratio and no traces of catalytic activity. The second sample, which had an identical inherent microstructure, was found to have an increased reactivity due to the presence of small catalytic impurities. This material also exhibited a more gradual reduction in the oxidation rate at higher conversion, caused by the accumulation of particles which impede the oxidation. The sample with the highest reactivity was found to be a milled, natural graphite material, despite its evident crystallinity. The increased reactivity was attributable to a smaller particle size, the presence of catalytic impurities and extensive damage to the particle structure caused by jet milling. Despite displaying the lowest levels of

New Insights into the Diels-Alder Reaction of Graphene Oxide.

Science.gov (United States)

Brisebois, Patrick P; Kuss, Christian; Schougaard, Steen B; Izquierdo, Ricardo; Siaj, Mohamed

2016-04-18

Graphene oxide is regarded as a major precursor for graphene-based materials. The development of graphene oxide based derivatives with new functionalities requires a thorough understanding of its chemical reactivity, especially for canonical synthetic methods such as the Diels-Alder cycloaddition. The Diels-Alder reaction has been successfully extended with graphene oxide as a source of diene by using maleic anhydride as a dienophile, thereby outlining the presence of the cis diene present in the graphene oxide framework. This reaction provides fundamental information for understanding the exact structure and chemical nature of graphene oxide. On the basis of high-resolution (13) C-SS NMR spectra, we show evidence for the formation of new sp(3) carbon centers covalently bonded to graphene oxide following hydrolysis of the reaction product. DFT calculations are also used to show that the presence of a cis dihydroxyl and C vacancy on the surface of graphene oxide are promoting the reaction with significant negative reaction enthalpies. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Robust synthetic biology design: stochastic game theory approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Bor-Sen; Chang, Chia-Hung; Lee, Hsiao-Ching

2009-07-15

Synthetic biology is to engineer artificial biological systems to investigate natural biological phenomena and for a variety of applications. However, the development of synthetic gene networks is still difficult and most newly created gene networks are non-functioning due to uncertain initial conditions and disturbances of extra-cellular environments on the host cell. At present, how to design a robust synthetic gene network to work properly under these uncertain factors is the most important topic of synthetic biology. A robust regulation design is proposed for a stochastic synthetic gene network to achieve the prescribed steady states under these uncertain factors from the minimax regulation perspective. This minimax regulation design problem can be transformed to an equivalent stochastic game problem. Since it is not easy to solve the robust regulation design problem of synthetic gene networks by non-linear stochastic game method directly, the Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy model is proposed to approximate the non-linear synthetic gene network via the linear matrix inequality (LMI) technique through the Robust Control Toolbox in Matlab. Finally, an in silico example is given to illustrate the design procedure and to confirm the efficiency and efficacy of the proposed robust gene design method. http://www.ee.nthu.edu.tw/bschen/SyntheticBioDesign_supplement.pdf.

Synthetic biology of polyketide synthases

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yuzawa, Satoshi; Backman, Tyler W.H.; Keasling, Jay D.

2018-01-01

). The modules are composed of enzymatic domains that share sequence and functional similarity across all known PKSs. We have used the nomenclature of synthetic biology to classify the enzymatic domains and modules as parts and devices, respectively, and have generated detailed lists of both. In addition, we...... realize the potential that synthetic biology approaches bring to this class of molecules....

Removal of arsenite from water by synthetic siderite: Behaviors and mechanisms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo Huaming; Li Yuan; Zhao Kai; Ren Yan; Wei Chao

2011-01-01

Synthetic siderite has been used as adsorbent for As(III) removal in this study. Effects of contact time, temperature, pH, co-existing anions on As(III) adsorption were intensively investigated. Adsorption mechanisms were also studied using the X-ray absorption technique. Results show that the maximum adsorption capacity is up to 9.98 mg g -1 at 25 deg, C at a siderite dosage of 2 g L -1 . Adsorption kinetics agrees with the Lagergren pseudo-second order model. Arsenic(III) adsorption can be better described by Langmuir isotherm model for As(III) adsorption at 55 deg. C, indicating that the coverage of the adsorption sites is in the form of monolayer, although Freundlich isotherm yields a better fit to the experimental data at 25, 35 and 45 deg. C. Thermodynamic study indicates that As(III) adsorption on the synthetic siderite is spontaneous and endothermic in nature. The adsorption capacity is enhanced with the increase in reaction temperature. The adsorption is independent on solution pH between 3.0 and 9.6. The presence of NO 3 - , SO 4 2- , PO 4 3- or SiO 3 2- with element concentrations less than 20 mg L -1 does not have adverse effect on As(III) adsorption. XANES spectra indicate that As mainly occurs as As(V) in the As adsorbed-materials, and the fraction of oxidized As(III) increases with the decrease in As(III) concentration. The formation of Fe hydroxide minerals (such as lepidocrocite and goethite) followed by As(III) oxidiation and adsorption is shown to be the main mechanism of As(III) removal by the synthetic siderite.

Mass Spectrometric Analysis of Synthetic Organic Pigments.

Science.gov (United States)

Sugaya, Naeko; Takahashi, Mitsuko; Sakurai, Katsumi; Tanaka, Nobuko; Okubo, Ichiro; Kawakami, Tsuyoshi

2018-04-18

Though synthetic organic colorants are used in various applications nowadays, there is the concern that impurities by-produced during the manufacturing and degradation products in some of these colorants are persistent organic pollutants and carcinogens. Thus, it is important to identify the synthetic organic colorants in various products, such as commercial paints, ink, cosmetics, food, textile, and plastics. Dyes, which are soluble in water and other solvents, could be analyzed by chromatographic methods. In contrast, it is difficult to analyze synthetic organic pigments by these methods because of their insolubility. This review is an overview of mass spectrometric analysis of synthetic organic pigments by various ionization methods. We highlight a recent study of textile samples by atmospheric pressure solid analysis probe MS. Furthermore, the mass spectral features of synthetic organic pigments and their separation from other components such as paint media and plasticizers are discussed.

Carbon aerogels by pyrolysis of TEMPO-oxidized cellulose

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Sizhao; Feng, Jian; Feng, Junzong; Jiang, Yonggang; Ding, Feng

2018-05-01

Although carbon aerogels derived from naturally occurring materials have been developed extensively, a reasonable synthetic approach using cellulose-resource remains unclear. Here, we report a strategy to prepare carbon aerogels originated from cellulose position-selectively oxidized by TEMPO-oxidized process. Contrary to non-TEMPO-oxidized cellulose-derived carbon aerogels (NCCA) with relative loose structure, TEMPO-oxidized cellulose-derived carbon aerogels (TCCA) with tight fibrillar-continuous network are monitored, suggesting the importance of TEMPO-oxidized modification towards creating the architecture of subsequently produced carbon aerogels. TCCA endows a higher BET area despite owning slightly dense bulk density comparing with that of NCCA. The structural texture of TCCA could be maintained in a way in comparison to TEMPO-oxidized cellulose-derived aerogel, due to the integration and aggregation effect by losing the electric double layer repulsion via ionization of the surface carboxyl groups. FTIR and XPS analyses signify the evidence of non-functionalized carbon-skeleton network formation in terms of TCCA. Further, the mechanism concerning the creation of carbon aerogels is also established. These findings not only provide new insights into the production of carbon aerogels but also open up a new opportunity in the field of functional carbon materials.

Analysis of the influence of synthetic paramaters on the structure and physico-chemical properties of non-spherical iron oxide nanocrystals and their biological stability and compatibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Pardo, Alberto; Pujales, Rosa; Blanco, Mateo; Villar-Alvarez, Eva M; Barbosa, Silvia; Taboada, Pablo; Mosquera, Víctor

2016-01-14

In this work, we analyzed the effects of subtle changes in the synthetic conditions and synthetic parameters on the resulting size, shape, monodispersity, crystallinity and magnetic properties of iron oxide nanocrystals (IONCs) obtained through a modified one pot method for the production of mainly cubic-shaped nanoparticles (NPs). Cubic, octahedral and cuboctahedral shapes with different sizes and monodispersity could be obtained by slightly changing the stabilizer/precursor molar ratio, the precursor concentration, the reaction time and temperature and/or the heating rate. Their physical properties were evaluated using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) and a superconducting quantum interference (SQUID) device. It was found that monodisperse cubic nanocrystals from ca. 25 to 94 nm could be obtained either by changing the precursor concentration, the heating rate or the reaction time. These cubic nanocrystals were ferrimagnetic in the whole temperature rage analyzed, with saturation magnetization values even larger than those of bulk magnetite. In addition, slightly truncated octahedral NPs could be achieved at relatively large heating ramp rates, whereas cubooctahedral NPs were derived by simply increasing the stabilizer/precursor molar ratio. The saturation magnetization of both types of NPs was slightly lower than the cubic ones, but they were still ferrimagnetic in the whole temperature range analyzed. Moreover, transfer to aqueous solution was possible by a ligand exchange with dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) providing, at the same time, chemical groups for additional functionalization if required. The DMSA-coated cubic IONCs were fairly stable in culture medium, allowing their internalization by different cell types. The NPs inside the cells were located in the cytoplasm and most of them showed a perinuclear distribution. Moreover, a great cytocompatibility in a

Changes in Renal Function and Oxidative Status Associated with the Hypotensive Effects of Oleanolic Acid and Related Synthetic Derivatives in Experimental Animals.

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Hlengiwe Pretty Madlala

Full Text Available The triterpene oleanolic acid (OA is known to possess antihypertensive actions. In the present study we to compared the effects of the triterpene on mean arterial blood pressure (MAP and kidney function following acute administration in normotensive animals with those of its related oleanane synthetic derivatives (brominated oleanolic acid, Br-OA and oleanolic acid methyl ester, Me-OA. We also used experimental models of hypertension to further explore the effects of sub-chronic oral OA treatment and evaluated influences on oxidative status.OA was extracted from dried flower buds of Syzygium aromaticum using a previously validated protocol in our laboratory. Me-OA and Br-OA were synthesized according to a method described. Rats were supplemented with lithium chloride (12 mmol L-1 prior to experimentation in order to raise plasma lithium to allow measurements of lithium clearance and fractional excretion (FELi as indices of proximal tubular Na+ handling. Anaesthetized animals were continuously infused via the right jugular with 0.077M NaCl. MAP was measured via a cannula inserted in the carotid artery, and urine was collected through a cannula inserted in the bladder. After a 3.5 h equilibration, MAP, urine flow, electrolyte excretion rates were determined for 4 h of 1 h control, 1.5 h treatment and 1.5 h recovery periods. OA, Me-OA and Br-OA were added to the infusate during the treatment period. We evaluated sub-chronic effects on MAP and kidney function in normotensive Wistar rats and in two animal models of hypertension, spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR and Dahl salt-sensitive (DSS rats, during 9-week administration of OA (p.o.. Tissue oxidative status was examined in these animals at the end of the study. Increasing evidence suggests that and renal function disturbances and oxidative stress play major roles in the pathogenesis of hypertension.Acute infusion OA and oleanane derivatives displayed qualitatively similar effects in decreasing

Effect of metallic iron on the oxidative dissolution of UO2 doped with a radioactive alpha emitter in synthetic Callovian-Oxfordian groundwater

Science.gov (United States)

Odorowski, Mélina; Jegou, Christophe; De Windt, Laurent; Broudic, Véronique; Jouan, Gauthier; Peuget, Sylvain; Martin, Christelle

2017-12-01

In the hypothesis of direct disposal of spent fuel in a geological nuclear waste repository, interactions between the fuel mainly composed of UO2 and its environment must be understood. The dissolution rate of the UO2 matrix, which depends on the redox conditions on the fuel surface, will have a major impact on the release of radionuclides into the environment. The reducing conditions expected for a geological disposal situation would appear to be favorable as regards the solubility and stability of the UO2 matrix, but may be disturbed on the surface of irradiated fuel. In particular, the local redox conditions will result from a competition between the radiolysis effects of water under alpha irradiation (simultaneously producing oxidizing species like H2O2, hydrogen peroxide, and reducing species like H2, hydrogen) and those of redox active species from the environment. In particular, Fe2+, a strongly reducing aqueous species coming from the corrosion of the iron canister or from the host rock, could influence the dissolution of the fuel matrix. The effect of iron on the oxidative dissolution of UO2 was thus investigated under the conditions of the French disposal site, a Callovian-Oxfordian clay formation chosen by the French National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (Andra), here tested under alpha irradiation. For this study, UO2 fuel pellets doped with a radioactive alpha emitter (238/239Pu) were leached in synthetic Callovian-Oxfordian groundwater (representative of the French waste disposal site groundwater) in the presence of a metallic iron foil to simulate the steel canister. The pellets had varying levels of alpha activity, in order to modulate the concentrations of species produced by water radiolysis on the surface and to simulate the activity of aged spent fuel after 50 and 10,000 years of alpha radioactivity decay. The experimental data showed that whatever the sample alpha radioactivity, the presence of iron inhibits the oxidizing dissolution of

Shock compression of synthetic opal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inoue, A; Okuno, M; Okudera, H; Mashimo, T; Omurzak, E; Katayama, S; Koyano, M

2010-01-01

Structural change of synthetic opal by shock-wave compression up to 38.1 GPa has been investigated by using SEM, X-ray diffraction method (XRD), Infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopies. Obtained information may indicate that the dehydration and polymerization of surface silanole due to high shock and residual temperature are very important factors in the structural evolution of synthetic opal by shock compression. Synthetic opal loses opalescence by 10.9 and 18.4 GPa of shock pressures. At 18.4 GPa, dehydration and polymerization of surface silanole and transformation of network structure may occur simultaneously. The 4-membered ring of TO 4 tetrahedrons in as synthetic opal may be relaxed to larger ring such as 6-membered ring by high residual temperature. Therefore, the residual temperature may be significantly high at even 18.4 GPa of shock compression. At 23.9 GPa, opal sample recovered the opalescence. Origin of this opalescence may be its layer structure by shock compression. Finally, sample fuse by very high residual temperature at 38.1 GPa and the structure closes to that of fused SiO 2 glass. However, internal silanole groups still remain even at 38.1 GPa.

Super-Resolution for Synthetic Zooming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Xin

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Optical zooming is an important feature of imaging systems. In this paper, we investigate a low-cost signal processing alternative to optical zooming—synthetic zooming by super-resolution (SR techniques. Synthetic zooming is achieved by registering a sequence of low-resolution (LR images acquired at varying focal lengths and reconstructing the SR image at a larger focal length or increased spatial resolution. Under the assumptions of constant scene depth and zooming speed, we argue that the motion trajectories of all physical points are related to each other by a unique vanishing point and present a robust technique for estimating its D coordinate. Such a line-geometry-based registration is the foundation of SR for synthetic zooming. We address the issue of data inconsistency arising from the varying focal length of optical lens during the zooming process. To overcome the difficulty of data inconsistency, we propose a two-stage Delaunay-triangulation-based interpolation for fusing the LR image data. We also present a PDE-based nonlinear deblurring to accommodate the blindness and variation of sensor point spread functions. Simulation results with real-world images have verified the effectiveness of the proposed SR techniques for synthetic zooming.

Shock compression of synthetic opal

Science.gov (United States)

Inoue, A.; Okuno, M.; Okudera, H.; Mashimo, T.; Omurzak, E.; Katayama, S.; Koyano, M.

2010-03-01

Structural change of synthetic opal by shock-wave compression up to 38.1 GPa has been investigated by using SEM, X-ray diffraction method (XRD), Infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopies. Obtained information may indicate that the dehydration and polymerization of surface silanole due to high shock and residual temperature are very important factors in the structural evolution of synthetic opal by shock compression. Synthetic opal loses opalescence by 10.9 and 18.4 GPa of shock pressures. At 18.4 GPa, dehydration and polymerization of surface silanole and transformation of network structure may occur simultaneously. The 4-membered ring of TO4 tetrahedrons in as synthetic opal may be relaxed to larger ring such as 6-membered ring by high residual temperature. Therefore, the residual temperature may be significantly high at even 18.4 GPa of shock compression. At 23.9 GPa, opal sample recovered the opalescence. Origin of this opalescence may be its layer structure by shock compression. Finally, sample fuse by very high residual temperature at 38.1 GPa and the structure closes to that of fused SiO2 glass. However, internal silanole groups still remain even at 38.1 GPa.

Shock compression of synthetic opal

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Inoue, A; Okuno, M; Okudera, H [Department of Earth Sciences, Kanazawa University Kanazawa, Ishikawa, 920-1192 (Japan); Mashimo, T; Omurzak, E [Shock Wave and Condensed Matter Research Center, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, 860-8555 (Japan); Katayama, S; Koyano, M, E-mail: okuno@kenroku.kanazawa-u.ac.j [JAIST, Nomi, Ishikawa, 923-1297 (Japan)

2010-03-01

Structural change of synthetic opal by shock-wave compression up to 38.1 GPa has been investigated by using SEM, X-ray diffraction method (XRD), Infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopies. Obtained information may indicate that the dehydration and polymerization of surface silanole due to high shock and residual temperature are very important factors in the structural evolution of synthetic opal by shock compression. Synthetic opal loses opalescence by 10.9 and 18.4 GPa of shock pressures. At 18.4 GPa, dehydration and polymerization of surface silanole and transformation of network structure may occur simultaneously. The 4-membered ring of TO{sub 4} tetrahedrons in as synthetic opal may be relaxed to larger ring such as 6-membered ring by high residual temperature. Therefore, the residual temperature may be significantly high at even 18.4 GPa of shock compression. At 23.9 GPa, opal sample recovered the opalescence. Origin of this opalescence may be its layer structure by shock compression. Finally, sample fuse by very high residual temperature at 38.1 GPa and the structure closes to that of fused SiO{sub 2} glass. However, internal silanole groups still remain even at 38.1 GPa.

UV radiation: a promising tool in the synthesisof multicomponent nano-oxides

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Čuba, V.; Procházková, L.; Bárta, J.; Vondrášková, A.; Pavelková, T.; Mihóková, Eva; Jarý, Vítězslav; Nikl, Martin

2014-01-01

Roč. 16, č. 11 (2014), "2686-1"-"2686-7" ISSN 1388-0764 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA13-09876S Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : nanoscintillators * band-gap engineering * UV radiation radioluminescence * zinc oxide * synthetic garnets * composite nanoparticles Subject RIV: CH - Nuclear ; Quantum Chemistry Impact factor: 2.184, year: 2014

Synthetic Rutile

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burastero, J.

1975-01-01

This work is about the laboratory scale investigation of the conditions in the rutile synthetic production from one me nita in Aguas Dulces reservoir. The iron mineral is chlorinated and volatilized selectively leaving a residue enriched in titanium dioxide which can be used as a substitute of rutile mineral

Anisotropic evaluation of synthetic surgical meshes.

Science.gov (United States)

Saberski, E R; Orenstein, S B; Novitsky, Y W

2011-02-01

The material properties of meshes used in hernia repair contribute to the overall mechanical behavior of the repair. The anisotropic potential of synthetic meshes, representing a difference in material properties (e.g., elasticity) in different material axes, is not well defined to date. Haphazard orientation of anisotropic mesh material can contribute to inconsistent surgical outcomes. We aimed to characterize and compare anisotropic properties of commonly used synthetic meshes. Six different polypropylene (Trelex(®), ProLite™, Ultrapro™), polyester (Parietex™), and PTFE-based (Dualmesh(®), Infinit) synthetic meshes were selected. Longitudinal and transverse axes were defined for each mesh, and samples were cut in each axis orientation. Samples underwent uniaxial tensile testing, from which the elastic modulus (E) in each axis was determined. The degree of anisotropy (λ) was calculated as a logarithmic expression of the ratio between the elastic modulus in each axis. Five of six meshes displayed significant anisotropic behavior. Ultrapro™ and Infinit exhibited approximately 12- and 20-fold differences between perpendicular axes, respectively. Trelex(®), ProLite™, and Parietex™ were 2.3-2.4 times. Dualmesh(®) was the least anisotropic mesh, without marked difference between the axes. Anisotropy of synthetic meshes has been underappreciated. In this study, we found striking differences between elastic properties of perpendicular axes for most commonly used synthetic meshes. Indiscriminate orientation of anisotropic mesh may adversely affect hernia repairs. Proper labeling of all implants by manufacturers should be mandatory. Understanding the specific anisotropic behavior of synthetic meshes should allow surgeons to employ rational implant orientation to maximize outcomes of hernia repair.

Pain modulation by nitric oxide in the spinal cord.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco Aurelio M Freire

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Nitric oxide (NO is a versatile messenger molecule first associated with endothelial relaxing effects. In the central nervous system (CNS, NO synthesis is primarily triggered by activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA receptors and has a Janus face, with both beneficial and harmful properties, depending on concentration and the identity of its synthetic enzyme isoform. There are three isoforms of the NO synthesizing enzyme nitric oxide synthase (NOS: neuronal (nNOS, endothelial (eNOS, and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS, each one involved with specific events in the brain. In CNS, nNOS is involved with modulation of synaptic transmission through long-term potentiation in several regions, including nociceptive circuits in the spinal cord. Here, we review the role played by NO on central pain sensitization.

Synthetic Lipoproteins as Carriers for Drug Delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Gangliang; Liu, Yang; Huang, Hualiang

2016-01-01

Synthetic lipoprotein is an effective carrier of targeted delivery for drugs. It has the very small size, good biocompatibility, suitable half-life, and specific lipoprotein receptorbinding capacity. Compared with the traditional natural lipoprotein, synthetic lipoprotein not only retains the original biological characteristics and functions, but also exhibits the excellent characteristics in drug delivery. Herein, the advantages, development, applications, and prospect of synthetic lipoproteins as drug carriers were summarized.

Handling a tricycle: Orthogonal versus random oxidation of the tricyclic inhibitor cystine knotted peptide gurmarin

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eliasen, Rasmus; Andresen, Thomas L.; Conde-Frieboes, Kilian W.

2012-01-01

random oxidation strategy. We compared two oxidation procedures to form the three disulfide bridges. In the first, based on random oxidation, reduced gurmarin was synthesized using trityl for cysteine protection, and oxidized for 48h in a Tris–HCl buffer containing cystamine and reduced glutathione...... to facilitate disulfide scrambling. The second was based on step-wise deprotection followed by oxidation in which the cysteine pairs are orthogonally protected with tert-Butylthio, trityl and acetamidomethyl. To verify that the native gurmarin oxidation product was obtained, thermolysin cleavage was used...... UPLC. It was found that the random oxidation procedure leads to native gurmarin in high yield. Thus, the synthetic route was simple and significantly more efficient than previously reported syntheses of gurmarin and other cysteine rich peptides. Importantly, native gurmarin was obtained by random...

Uranium mobility in non-oxidizing brines: field and experimental evidence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giblin, A.M.; Appleyard, E.C.

1987-01-01

The present distribution of U in the Wollaston Sediments in Saskatchewan can be related to the movement of brines as revealed in Na-Ca-Mg-Cl-metasomes. Experiments were conducted at 60 and 200 0 C under stringently non-oxidizing conditions using solvents ranging from distilled water to a Ca-Na-K brine formulated to simulate the major element composition of the Salton Sea geothermal brines. The experiments were conducted on natural pitchblende (UOsub(2.67)) and synthetic uraninite (UOsub(2.01)). Natural pitchblende was more strongly dissolved than the synthetic uraninite, and the synthetic Salton Sea brine was a more potent solvent than distilled water, 1:4 diluted Salton Sea brine, or pure NaCl brine. Within analytical limits of detection the dissolved U is present in the uranous (U 4+ ) state. The evidence demonstrates empirically the mechanism of dissolution of naturally occurring U minerals in reduced brines and describes a geological case where this appears to have happened. (author)

A synthetic peptide with the putative iron binding motif of amyloid precursor protein (APP does not catalytically oxidize iron.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kourosh Honarmand Ebrahimi

Full Text Available The β-amyloid precursor protein (APP, which is a key player in Alzheimer's disease, was recently reported to possess an Fe(II binding site within its E2 domain which exhibits ferroxidase activity [Duce et al. 2010, Cell 142: 857]. The putative ligands of this site were compared to those in the ferroxidase site of ferritin. The activity was indirectly measured using transferrin, which scavenges the Fe(III product of the reaction. A 22-residue synthetic peptide, named FD1, with the putative ferroxidase site of APP, and the E2 domain of APP were each reported to exhibit 40% of the ferroxidase activity of APP and of ceruloplasmin. It was also claimed that the ferroxidase activity of APP is inhibited by Zn(II just as in ferritin. We measured the ferroxidase activity indirectly (i by the incorporation of the Fe(III product of the ferroxidase reaction into transferrin and directly (ii by monitoring consumption of the substrate molecular oxygen. The results with the FD1 peptide were compared to the established ferroxidase activities of human H-chain ferritin and of ceruloplasmin. For FD1 we observed no activity above the background of non-enzymatic Fe(II oxidation by molecular oxygen. Zn(II binds to transferrin and diminishes its Fe(III incorporation capacity and rate but it does not specifically bind to a putative ferroxidase site of FD1. Based on these results, and on comparison of the putative ligands of the ferroxidase site of APP with those of ferritin, we conclude that the previously reported results for ferroxidase activity of FD1 and - by implication - of APP should be re-evaluated.

Applications of cell-free protein synthesis in synthetic biology: Interfacing bio-machinery with synthetic environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Kyung-Ho; Kim, Dong-Myung

2013-11-01

Synthetic biology is built on the synthesis, engineering, and assembly of biological parts. Proteins are the first components considered for the construction of systems with designed biological functions because proteins carry out most of the biological functions and chemical reactions inside cells. Protein synthesis is considered to comprise the most basic levels of the hierarchical structure of synthetic biology. Cell-free protein synthesis has emerged as a powerful technology that can potentially transform the concept of bioprocesses. With the ability to harness the synthetic power of biology without many of the constraints of cell-based systems, cell-free protein synthesis enables the rapid creation of protein molecules from diverse sources of genetic information. Cell-free protein synthesis is virtually free from the intrinsic constraints of cell-based methods and offers greater flexibility in system design and manipulability of biological synthetic machinery. Among its potential applications, cell-free protein synthesis can be combined with various man-made devices for rapid functional analysis of genomic sequences. This review covers recent efforts to integrate cell-free protein synthesis with various reaction devices and analytical platforms. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Microfluidic Technologies for Synthetic Biology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sung Kuk Lee

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Microfluidic technologies have shown powerful abilities for reducing cost, time, and labor, and at the same time, for increasing accuracy, throughput, and performance in the analysis of biological and biochemical samples compared with the conventional, macroscale instruments. Synthetic biology is an emerging field of biology and has drawn much attraction due to its potential to create novel, functional biological parts and systems for special purposes. Since it is believed that the development of synthetic biology can be accelerated through the use of microfluidic technology, in this review work we focus our discussion on the latest microfluidic technologies that can provide unprecedented means in synthetic biology for dynamic profiling of gene expression/regulation with high resolution, highly sensitive on-chip and off-chip detection of metabolites, and whole-cell analysis.

40 CFR 721.3627 - Branched synthetic fatty acid.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 30 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Branched synthetic fatty acid. 721... Substances § 721.3627 Branched synthetic fatty acid. (a) Chemical substance and significant new uses subject to reporting. (1) The chemical substance identified generically as a branched synthetic fatty acid...

Cyclic oxidation of stainless steel ferritic AISI 409, AISI 439 and AISI 441

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salgado, Maria de Fatima; Santos, Diego Machado dos; Oliveira, Givanilson Brito de; Lins, Vanessa de Freitas Cunha

2014-01-01

Stainless steels have many industrial applications. The cyclic oxidation of ferritic stainless steels technical and scientific importance presents, because they are less susceptible to peeling the austenitic alloys. For the purpose of investigating the behavior of these steels under thermal cycling, cyclic oxidation of AISI 409, AISI 441 and AISI 439 was carried out in a tubular furnace under two different conditions: oxidation by dipping the steel in the synthetic condensate for 10h and without oxidation immersion in the condensate, for up to 1500h at 300° C temperature. Using techniques: SEM, EDS and XRD revealed a microstructure with increased oxidation in the samples were immersed in the condensate. The oxide film remained intact during oxidation for steels 439 and 441 409 The Steel immersed in the condensate was rupture of the film after the 20th cycle of oxidation. The chemical characterization of the films allowed the identification of elements: Chromium, Iron, Aluminium and Silicon To a great extent, Cr_2O_3. (author)

Synthetic Sediments and Stochastic Groundwater Hydrology

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, J. L.

2002-12-01

For over twenty years the groundwater community has pursued the somewhat elusive goal of describing the effects of aquifer heterogeneity on subsurface flow and chemical transport. While small perturbation stochastic moment methods have significantly advanced theoretical understanding, why is it that stochastic applications use instead simulations of flow and transport through multiple realizations of synthetic geology? Allan Gutjahr was a principle proponent of the Fast Fourier Transform method for the synthetic generation of aquifer properties and recently explored new, more geologically sound, synthetic methods based on multi-scale Markov random fields. Focusing on sedimentary aquifers, how has the state-of-the-art of synthetic generation changed and what new developments can be expected, for example, to deal with issues like conceptual model uncertainty, the differences between measurement and modeling scales, and subgrid scale variability? What will it take to get stochastic methods, whether based on moments, multiple realizations, or some other approach, into widespread application?

An overview on the removal of synthetic dyes from water by electrochemical advanced oxidation processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Nidheesh, P V; Zhou, Minghua; Oturan, Mehmet A

2018-04-01

Wastewater containing dyes are one of the major threats to our environment. Conventional methods are insufficient for the removal of these persistent organic pollutants. Recently much attention has been received for the oxidative removal of various organic pollutants by electrochemically generated hydroxyl radical. This review article aims to provide the recent trends in the field of various Electrochemical Advanced Oxidation Processes (EAOPs) used for removing dyes from water medium. The characteristics, fundamentals and recent advances in each processes namely anodic oxidation, electro-Fenton, peroxicoagulation, fered Fenton, anodic Fenton, photoelectro-Fenton, sonoelectro-Fenton, bioelectro-Fenton etc. have been examined in detail. These processes have great potential to destroy persistent organic pollutants in aqueous medium and most of the studies reported complete removal of dyes from water. The great capacity of these processes indicates that EAOPs constitute a promising technology for the treatment of the dye contaminated effluents. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Progress in synthetic biology of "973 Funding Program" in China].

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Guoqiang; Wang, Ying

2015-06-01

This paper reviews progresses made in China from 2011 in areas of "Synthetic Biology" supported by State Basic Research 973 Program. Till the end of 2014, 9 "synthetic biology" projects have been initiated with emphasis on "microbial manufactures" with the 973 Funding Program. Combined with the very recent launch of one project on "mammalian cell synthetic biology" and another on "plant synthetic biology", Chinese "synthetic biology" research reflects its focus on "manufactures" while not giving up efforts on "synthetic biology" of complex systems.

Oxidized Xanthan Gum and Chitosan as Natural Adhesives for Cork

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diana Paiva

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Natural cork stopper manufacturing produces a significant amount of cork waste, which is granulated and combined with synthetic glues for use in a wide range of applications. There is a high demand for using biosourced polymers in these composite materials. In this study, xanthan gum (XG and chitosan (CS were investigated as possible natural binders for cork. Xanthan gum was oxidized at two different aldehyde contents as a strategy to improve its water resistance. This modification was studied in detail by 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR, and the degree of oxidation was determined by the hydroxylamine hydrochloride titration method. The performance of the adhesives was studied by tensile tests and total soluble matter (TSM determinations. Xanthan gum showed no water resistance, contrary to oxidized xanthan gum and chitosan. It is hypothesized that the good performance of oxidized xanthan gum is due to the reaction of aldehyde groups—formed in the oxidation process—with hydroxyl groups on the cork surface during the high temperature drying. Combining oxidized xanthan gum with chitosan did not yield significant improvements.

Methods for preparing synthetic freshwaters.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, E J; Davison, W; Hamilton-Taylor, J

2002-03-01

Synthetic solutions that emulate the major ion compositions of natural waters are useful in experiments aimed at understanding biogeochemical processes. Standard recipes exist for preparing synthetic analogues of seawater, with its relatively constant composition, but, due to the diversity of freshwaters, a range of compositions and recipes is required. Generic protocols are developed for preparing synthetic freshwaters of any desired composition. The major problems encountered in preparing hard and soft waters include dissolving sparingly soluble calcium carbonate, ensuring that the ionic components of each concentrated stock solution cannot form an insoluble salt and dealing with the supersaturation of calcium carbonate in many hard waters. For acidic waters the poor solubility of aluminium salts requires attention. These problems are overcome by preparing concentrated stock solutions according to carefully designed reaction paths that were tested using a combination of experiment and equilibrium modeling. These stock solutions must then be added in a prescribed order to prepare a final solution that is brought into equilibrium with the atmosphere. The example calculations for preparing hard, soft and acidic freshwater surrogates with major ion compositions the same as published analyses, are presented in a generalized fashion that should allow preparation of any synthetic freshwater according to its known analysis.

The Effect of Precursor Ligands and Oxidation State in the Synthesis of Bimetallic Nano-Alloys

KAUST Repository

LaGrow, Alec P.; Knudsen, Kristian; AlYami, Noktan; Anjum, Dalaver H.; Bakr, Osman

2015-01-01

of variables on the characteristics of bimetallic nanomaterials are not completely understood. In this study, we used a continuous-flow synthetic strategy to explore the effects of the ligands and the oxidation state of a metal precursor in a shape

In vivo formation of beta-oxidized metabolites of leukotriene E4 in the rat

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perrin, P.; Zirrolli, J.; Stene, D.O.; Lellouche, J.P.; Beaucourt, J.P.; Murphy, R.C.

1989-01-01

Intraperitoneal administration of [ 3 H]-leukotriene E4 in the rat resulted in the appearance of radiolabel in urine and feces. Separation of polar urinary metabolites and chromatographic comparison of synthetic metabolites indicated the in vivo formation of omega-oxidized metabolites of LTE4 with sequential beta-oxidation. Furthermore, the metabolite identified as 16-carboxy-17,18,19,20-tetranor-14,15-dihydro-N-acetyl-LTE4 substantiates the biochemical pathway of beta-oxidation in vivo involving the 2,4-dienoyl CoA reductase as an integral step. These results substantiate beta-oxidation of sulfidopeptide leukotrienes in vivo and these metabolites account for some of the major urinary metabolites of this class of lipid mediator

Reasons for Synthetic THC Use among College Students

Science.gov (United States)

Vidourek, Rebecca A.; King, Keith A.; Burbage, Michelle L.

2013-01-01

Synthetic THC, also known as fake marijuana, is used by college students in the United States. The present study examined reasons for recent synthetic THC use among college students (N = 339). Students completed a 3-page survey during regularly scheduled class times. Results indicated students reported using synthetic THC for curiosity, to get…

Defining the Synthetic Biology Supply Chain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frazar, Sarah L.; Hund, Gretchen E.; Bonheyo, George T.; Diggans, James; Bartholomew, Rachel A.; Gehrig, Lindsey; Greaves, Mark

2017-08-01

In this article, a team of experts in synthetic biology, data analytics, and national security describe the overall supply chain surrounding synthetic biology. The team analyzes selected interactions within that network to better understand the risks raised by synthetic biology and identifies opportunities for risk mitigation. To introduce the concept, the article will briefly describe how an understanding of supply chains has been important in promoting nuclear nonproliferation objectives. The article concludes by assessing the structure and networks identified in the supply chains to reveal potential opportunities for future biodefense research and development; options for additional information exchange; and means to interdict, detect, or deter suspicious activity.

Synthetic Biology: Engineering Living Systems from Biophysical Principles.

Science.gov (United States)

Bartley, Bryan A; Kim, Kyung; Medley, J Kyle; Sauro, Herbert M

2017-03-28

Synthetic biology was founded as a biophysical discipline that sought explanations for the origins of life from chemical and physical first principles. Modern synthetic biology has been reinvented as an engineering discipline to design new organisms as well as to better understand fundamental biological mechanisms. However, success is still largely limited to the laboratory and transformative applications of synthetic biology are still in their infancy. Here, we review six principles of living systems and how they compare and contrast with engineered systems. We cite specific examples from the synthetic biology literature that illustrate these principles and speculate on their implications for further study. To fully realize the promise of synthetic biology, we must be aware of life's unique properties. Copyright © 2017 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[How to be prudent with synthetic biology. Synthetic Biology and the precautionary principle].

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez López, Blanca

2014-01-01

Synthetic biology is a new discipline that is twofold: firstly it offers the promise to pay benefits that can alleviate some of the ills that plague mankind; On the other hand, like all technologies, holds risks. Given these, the most critical and concerned about the risks, invoke the application of the precautionary principle, common in cases where an activity or new technology creates risks to the environment and/or human health, but far from universally accepted happens to be currently one of the most controversial principles. In this paper the question of the risks and benefits of synthetic biology and the relevance of applying the precautionary principle are analyzed. To do this we proceed as follows. The first part focuses on synthetic biology. At first, this discipline is characterized, with special attention to what is novel compared to the known as "genetic engineering". In the second stage both the benefits and the risks associated with it are discussed. The first part concludes with a review of the efforts currently being made to control or minimize the risks. The second part aims to analyze the precautionary principle and its possible relevance to the case of Synthetic Biology. At first, the different versions and interpretations of the principle and the various criticisms of which has been the subject are reviewed. Finally, after discarding the Precautionary Principle as an useful tool, it is seen as more appropriate some recent proposals to treat technologies that take into account not only risks but also their benefits.

WISB: Warwick Integrative Synthetic Biology Centre.

Science.gov (United States)

McCarthy, John

2016-06-15

Synthetic biology promises to create high-impact solutions to challenges in the areas of biotechnology, human/animal health, the environment, energy, materials and food security. Equally, synthetic biologists create tools and strategies that have the potential to help us answer important fundamental questions in biology. Warwick Integrative Synthetic Biology (WISB) pursues both of these mutually complementary 'build to apply' and 'build to understand' approaches. This is reflected in our research structure, in which a core theme on predictive biosystems engineering develops underpinning understanding as well as next-generation experimental/theoretical tools, and these are then incorporated into three applied themes in which we engineer biosynthetic pathways, microbial communities and microbial effector systems in plants. WISB takes a comprehensive approach to training, education and outreach. For example, WISB is a partner in the EPSRC/BBSRC-funded U.K. Doctoral Training Centre in synthetic biology, we have developed a new undergraduate module in the subject, and we have established five WISB Research Career Development Fellowships to support young group leaders. Research in Ethical, Legal and Societal Aspects (ELSA) of synthetic biology is embedded in our centre activities. WISB has been highly proactive in building an international research and training network that includes partners in Barcelona, Boston, Copenhagen, Madrid, Marburg, São Paulo, Tartu and Valencia. © 2016 The Author(s).

Coating a polystyrene well-plate surface with synthetic hematite, goethite and aluminium hydroxide for cell mineral adhesion studies in a controlled environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pouran, Hamid M.; Banwart, Steve A.; Romero-Gonzalez, Maria

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Hematite, goethite and aluminium hydroxide were synthesized and characterize. • Polystyrene cell culture well plates were coated with the synthetic metal oxides. • The coated well plates proven to be completely identical to the synthetic minerals. • The coating method is compatible with what occurs in aquifers with metal oxides. • This method provides a key experimental part for cell mineral adhesion studies. - Abstract: Iron and aluminium oxides are available in many climatic regions and play a vital role in many environmental processes, including the interactions of microorganisms in contaminated soils and groundwater with their ambient environment. Indigenous microorganisms in contaminated environments often have the ability to degrade or transform those contaminants, a concept that supports an in situ remediation approach and uses natural microbial populations in order to bio-remediate polluted sites. These metal oxides have a relatively high pH-dependent surface charge, which makes them good candidates for studying mineral–bacterial adhesion. Given the importance of understanding the reactions that occur at metal oxide and bacterial cell interfaces and to investigate this phenomenon further under well-characterized conditions, some of the most common iron and aluminium oxides; hematite, goethite and aluminium hydroxide, were synthesized and characterized and a coating method was developed to coat polystyrene well-plates as a surface exposable to bacterial adhesion with these minerals (non-treated polystyrene-12 well-plates which are used for cell cultures). The coating process was designed in a way that resembles naturally coated surfaces in aquifers. Hematite, Fe 2 O 3 , was synthesized from acidic FeCl 3 solution, while goethite, FeOOH, and aluminium hydroxide, Al(OH) 3 , were prepared from an alkaline solution of Fe(NO 3 ) 3 and Al(NO 3 ) 3 . They were further characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared

Unconventional, amphiphilic polymers based on chiral polyethylene oxide derivatives I. Synthesis and Characterization.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssen, H.M.; Peeters, E.; Zundert, van M.F.; Genderen, van M.H.P.; Meijer, E.W.

1997-01-01

The first representatives of a new class of synthetic, amphiphilic polymers based on poly(ethylene oxide) are introduced. These polymers are constituted in a similar way to that for coiled-coil-forming peptides: the polymers possess a regular repeat of apolar (A) residues in a polar (P) sequence of

Meso-/Nanoporous Semiconducting Metal Oxides for Gas Sensor Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nguyen Duc Hoa

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Development and/or design of new materials and/or structures for effective gas sensor applications with fast response and high sensitivity, selectivity, and stability are very important issues in the gas sensor technology. This critical review introduces our recent progress in the development of meso-/nanoporous semiconducting metal oxides and their applications to gas sensors. First, the basic concepts of resistive gas sensors and the recent synthesis of meso-/nanoporous metal oxides for gas sensor applications are introduced. The advantages of meso-/nanoporous metal oxides are also presented, taking into account the crystallinity and ordered/disordered porous structures. Second, the synthesis methods of meso-/nanoporous metal oxides including the soft-template, hard-template, and temple-free methods are introduced, in which the advantages and disadvantages of each synthetic method are figured out. Third, the applications of meso-/nanoporous metal oxides as gas sensors are presented. The gas nanosensors are designed based on meso-/nanoporous metal oxides for effective detection of toxic gases. The sensitivity, selectivity, and stability of the meso-/nanoporous gas nanosensors are also discussed. Finally, some conclusions and an outlook are presented.

Role of oxidizing agent in the chemistry of in-situ uranium leaching

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carlson, R.H.; Norris, R.D.; Schellinger, R.

1982-01-01

Synthetic two-component mixtures (uraninite and iron sulfide) as well as native uranium ores obtained from Texas and Wyoming have been examined. Physical/chemical ore properties are correlated with observed laboratory leach response. Data show a large inherent selectivity of oxidant for uranium in the early stages of a leach period. Uranium head grade was found to increase in a nearly linear fashion with hydrogen peroxide concentration in the leach solution. As uranium in the ore is depleted, uranium response decreases and the oxidant serves mainly to leach iron sulfide gangue material. 6 refs

Comparison of outcome expectancies for synthetic cannabinoids and botanical marijuana.

Science.gov (United States)

Lauritsen, Kirstin J; Rosenberg, Harold

2016-07-01

Although initially developed for medical purposes, synthetic cannabinoids have also been consumed for recreational purposes. To evaluate whether agreement with positive and negative outcome expectancies differed for synthetic cannabinoids versus botanical marijuana, and assess reported reasons for using synthetic cannabinoids. Using a web-based recruitment and data collection procedure, 186 adults who had used both synthetic cannabinoids and botanical marijuana and 181 adults who had used botanical marijuana but not synthetic cannabinoids, completed measures of outcome expectancies and other relevant questionnaires. A significant interaction revealed that participants who had used both synthetic cannabinoids and botanical marijuana indicated lower agreement with positive expectancies for synthetic cannabinoids, and higher agreement with positive expectancies for botanical marijuana, than did those participants who used only botanical marijuana. There was no interaction between type of drug and use history on agreement with negative expectancies, and participants agreed more strongly with negative outcome expectancies for synthetic cannabinoids than for botanical marijuana whether they had used one or both types of these drugs. The most frequently provided reasons for using synthetic cannabinoids included availability, perceived legality, cost, curiosity, and social interaction. Given growing public acceptance of recreational and medical marijuana, coupled with negative perceptions and increasing regulation of synthetic cannabinoid compounds, botanical marijuana is likely to remain more available and more popular than synthetic cannabinoids.

Health Risk Behaviors With Synthetic Cannabinoids Versus Marijuana.

Science.gov (United States)

Clayton, Heather B; Lowry, Richard; Ashley, Carmen; Wolkin, Amy; Grant, Althea M

2017-04-01

Data are limited on the behavioral risk correlates of synthetic cannabinoid use. The purpose of this study was to compare the behavioral risk correlates of synthetic cannabinoid use with those among marijuana users. Data from the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a cross-sectional survey conducted in a nationally representative sample of students in grades 9 through 12 ( N = 15 624), were used to examine the association between self-reported type of marijuana use (ie, never use of marijuana and synthetic cannabinoids, ever use of marijuana only, and ever use of synthetic cannabinoids) and self-report of 36 risk behaviors across 4 domains: substance use, injury/violence, mental health, and sexual health. Multivariable models were used to calculate adjusted prevalence ratios. Students who ever used synthetic cannabinoids had a significantly greater likelihood of engaging in each of the behaviors in the substance use and sexual risk domains compared with students who ever used marijuana only. Students who ever used synthetic cannabinoids were more likely than students who ever used marijuana only to have used marijuana before age 13 years, to have used marijuana ≥1 times during the past 30 days, and to have used marijuana ≥20 times during the past 30 days. Several injury/violence behaviors were more prevalent among students who ever used synthetic cannabinoids compared with students who ever used marijuana only. Health professionals and school-based substance use prevention programs should include strategies focused on the prevention of both synthetic cannabinoids and marijuana. Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Aqueous chemical dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matthews, R.W.

1982-01-01

Aqueous chemical dosimetry based on ceric and ferrous sulfate solutions and on a number of fluorescence-induced systems is reviewed. Particular attention is given to the factors affecting the response of these dosimeters to radiation and the corrections necessary for more accurate dosimetry under various irradiation conditions. The effect of cerous and ceric ion, oxygen, and sulfuric acid concentration on the ceric dosimeter is discussed together with the effects of temperature, energy of radiation, degraded energy spectra, and peroxysulfuric acids. Practical aspects of ceric/cerous dosimetry are given. Although ferrous sulfate solution is the most important and widely studied reference dosimeter, general agreement has not been reached on the ''best'' value for the molar extinction coefficient of ferric ions nor on the correction necessary to the G(Fe 3 - ) value for irradiations at temperatures significantly different from 25 0 C. New data are presented which indicate that the larger temperature coefficients given in the literature are more accurate. The ferrous sulfate system has been of great importance in establishing the primary radiolytic yields for 0.4 M sulfuric acid solution; it is shown how the failure to take into account the effect of oxygen and ferrous sulfate concentrations has led to erroneously high estimates of the zero solute concentration values in acid solutions. Some of the methods for extending the dose ranges measurable with ferrous sulfate-based solutions are reviewed. Substances which on irradiation give highly fluorescent products are among the most sensitive aqueous chemical dosimeters. These include benzoate and terephthalate solutions and the more recent coumarin and trimesate solutions. Advantages and disadvantages system are discussed. (author)

Efficient One-Pot Synthesis of Colloidal Zirconium Oxide Nanoparticles for High-Refractive-Index Nanocomposites.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chao; Hajagos, Tibor Jacob; Chen, Dustin; Chen, Yi; Kishpaugh, David; Pei, Qibing

2016-02-01

Zirconium oxide nanoparticles are promising candidates for optical engineering, photocatalysis, and high-κ dielectrics. However, reported synthetic methods for the colloidal zirconium oxide nanoparticles use unstable alkoxide precursors and have various other drawbacks, limiting their wide application. Here, we report a facile one-pot method for the synthesis of colloidally stable zirconium oxide nanoparticles. Using a simple solution of zirconium trifluoroacetate in oleylamine, highly stable zirconium oxide nanoparticles have been synthesized with high yield, following a proposed amidization-assisted sol-gel mechanism. The nanoparticles can be readily dispersed in nonpolar solvents, forming a long-term stable transparent solution, which can be further used to fabricate high-refractive-index nanocomposites in both monolith and thin-film forms. In addition, the same method has also been extended to the synthesis of titanium oxide nanoparticles, demonstrating its general applicability to all group IVB metal oxide nanoparticles.

A Highly Practical Copper(I)/TEMPO Catalyst System for Chemoselective Aerobic Oxidation of Primary Alcohols

Science.gov (United States)

Hoover, Jessica M.; Stahl, Shannon S.

2011-01-01

Aerobic oxidation reactions have been the focus of considerable attention, but their use in mainstream organic chemistry has been constrained by limitations in their synthetic scope and by practical factors, such as the use of pure O2 as the oxidant or complex catalyst synthesis. Here, we report a new (bpy)CuI/TEMPO catalyst system that enables efficient and selective aerobic oxidation of a broad range of primary alcohols, including allylic, benzylic and aliphatic derivatives, to the corresponding aldehydes using readily available reagents, at room temperature with ambient air as the oxidant. The catalyst system is compatible with a wide range of functional groups and the high selectivity for 1° alcohols enables selective oxidation of diols that lack protecting groups. PMID:21861488

Novel function of lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase. Hydrolysis of oxidized polar phospholipids generated during lipoprotein oxidation.

Science.gov (United States)

Goyal, J; Wang, K; Liu, M; Subbaiah, P V

1997-06-27

Although the major function of lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) is cholesterol esterification, our previous studies showed that it can also hydrolyze platelet-activating factor (PAF). Because of the structural similarities between PAF and the truncated phosphatidylcholines (polar PCs) generated during lipoprotein oxidation, we investigated the possibility that LCAT may also hydrolyze polar PCs to lyso-PC during the oxidation of plasma. PAF acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH), which is known to hydrolyze polar PCs in human plasma, was completely inhibited by 0.2 mM p-aminoethyl benzenesulfonyl fluoride (Pefabloc), a new serine esterase inhibitor, which had no effect on LCAT at this concentration. On the other hand, 1 mM diisopropylfluorophosphate (DFP) completely inhibited LCAT but had no effect on PAF-AH. Polar PC accumulation during the oxidation of plasma increased by 44% in the presence of 0.2 mM Pefabloc and by 30% in the presence of 1 mM DFP. The formation of lyso-PC was concomitantly inhibited by both of the inhibitors. The combination of the two inhibitors resulted in the maximum accumulation of polar PCs, suggesting that both PAF-AH and LCAT are involved in their breakdown. Oxidation of chicken plasma, which has no PAF-AH activity, also resulted in the formation of lyso-PC from the hydrolysis of polar PC, which was inhibited by DFP. Polar PCs, either isolated from oxidized plasma or by oxidation of labeled synthetic PCs, were hydrolyzed by purified LCAT, which had no detectable PAF-AH activity. These results demonstrate a novel function for LCAT in the detoxification of polar PCs generated during lipoprotein oxidation, especially when the PAF-AH is absent or inactivated.

Enhancement of the proline and nitric oxide synthetic pathway improves fermentation ability under multiple baking-associated stress conditions in industrial baker's yeast.

Science.gov (United States)

Sasano, Yu; Haitani, Yutaka; Hashida, Keisuke; Ohtsu, Iwao; Shima, Jun; Takagi, Hiroshi

2012-04-01

During the bread-making process, industrial baker's yeast, mostly Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is exposed to baking-associated stresses, such as air-drying and freeze-thaw stress. These baking-associated stresses exert severe injury to yeast cells, mainly due to the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), leading to cell death and reduced fermentation ability. Thus, there is a great need for a baker's yeast strain with higher tolerance to baking-associated stresses. Recently, we revealed a novel antioxidative mechanism in a laboratory yeast strain that is involved in stress-induced nitric oxide (NO) synthesis from proline via proline oxidase Put1 and N-acetyltransferase Mpr1. We also found that expression of the proline-feedback inhibition-less sensitive mutant γ-glutamyl kinase (Pro1-I150T) and the thermostable mutant Mpr1-F65L resulted in an enhanced fermentation ability of baker's yeast in bread dough after freeze-thaw stress and air-drying stress, respectively. However, baker's yeast strains with high fermentation ability under multiple baking-associated stresses have not yet been developed. We constructed a self-cloned diploid baker's yeast strain with enhanced proline and NO synthesis by expressing Pro1-I150T and Mpr1-F65L in the presence of functional Put1. The engineered strain increased the intracellular NO level in response to air-drying stress, and the strain was tolerant not only to oxidative stress but also to both air-drying and freeze-thaw stresses probably due to the reduced intracellular ROS level. We also showed that the resultant strain retained higher leavening activity in bread dough after air-drying and freeze-thaw stress than that of the wild-type strain. On the other hand, enhanced stress tolerance and fermentation ability did not occur in the put1-deficient strain. This result suggests that NO is synthesized in baker's yeast from proline in response to oxidative stresses that induce ROS generation and that increased NO plays an important

Enhancement of the proline and nitric oxide synthetic pathway improves fermentation ability under multiple baking-associated stress conditions in industrial baker's yeast

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sasano Yu

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background During the bread-making process, industrial baker's yeast, mostly Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is exposed to baking-associated stresses, such as air-drying and freeze-thaw stress. These baking-associated stresses exert severe injury to yeast cells, mainly due to the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS, leading to cell death and reduced fermentation ability. Thus, there is a great need for a baker's yeast strain with higher tolerance to baking-associated stresses. Recently, we revealed a novel antioxidative mechanism in a laboratory yeast strain that is involved in stress-induced nitric oxide (NO synthesis from proline via proline oxidase Put1 and N-acetyltransferase Mpr1. We also found that expression of the proline-feedback inhibition-less sensitive mutant γ-glutamyl kinase (Pro1-I150T and the thermostable mutant Mpr1-F65L resulted in an enhanced fermentation ability of baker's yeast in bread dough after freeze-thaw stress and air-drying stress, respectively. However, baker's yeast strains with high fermentation ability under multiple baking-associated stresses have not yet been developed. Results We constructed a self-cloned diploid baker's yeast strain with enhanced proline and NO synthesis by expressing Pro1-I150T and Mpr1-F65L in the presence of functional Put1. The engineered strain increased the intracellular NO level in response to air-drying stress, and the strain was tolerant not only to oxidative stress but also to both air-drying and freeze-thaw stresses probably due to the reduced intracellular ROS level. We also showed that the resultant strain retained higher leavening activity in bread dough after air-drying and freeze-thaw stress than that of the wild-type strain. On the other hand, enhanced stress tolerance and fermentation ability did not occur in the put1-deficient strain. This result suggests that NO is synthesized in baker's yeast from proline in response to oxidative stresses that induce ROS

Enhancement of the proline and nitric oxide synthetic pathway improves fermentation ability under multiple baking-associated stress conditions in industrial baker's yeast

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background During the bread-making process, industrial baker's yeast, mostly Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is exposed to baking-associated stresses, such as air-drying and freeze-thaw stress. These baking-associated stresses exert severe injury to yeast cells, mainly due to the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), leading to cell death and reduced fermentation ability. Thus, there is a great need for a baker's yeast strain with higher tolerance to baking-associated stresses. Recently, we revealed a novel antioxidative mechanism in a laboratory yeast strain that is involved in stress-induced nitric oxide (NO) synthesis from proline via proline oxidase Put1 and N-acetyltransferase Mpr1. We also found that expression of the proline-feedback inhibition-less sensitive mutant γ-glutamyl kinase (Pro1-I150T) and the thermostable mutant Mpr1-F65L resulted in an enhanced fermentation ability of baker's yeast in bread dough after freeze-thaw stress and air-drying stress, respectively. However, baker's yeast strains with high fermentation ability under multiple baking-associated stresses have not yet been developed. Results We constructed a self-cloned diploid baker's yeast strain with enhanced proline and NO synthesis by expressing Pro1-I150T and Mpr1-F65L in the presence of functional Put1. The engineered strain increased the intracellular NO level in response to air-drying stress, and the strain was tolerant not only to oxidative stress but also to both air-drying and freeze-thaw stresses probably due to the reduced intracellular ROS level. We also showed that the resultant strain retained higher leavening activity in bread dough after air-drying and freeze-thaw stress than that of the wild-type strain. On the other hand, enhanced stress tolerance and fermentation ability did not occur in the put1-deficient strain. This result suggests that NO is synthesized in baker's yeast from proline in response to oxidative stresses that induce ROS generation and that increased NO

Catalytic efficiency of natural and synthetic compounds used as laccase-mediators in oxidising veratryl alcohol and a kraft lignin, estimated by electrochemical analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonzalez Arzola, K.; Arevalo, M.C.; Falcon, M.A.

2009-01-01

The electrochemical properties of eighteen natural and synthetic compounds commonly used to expand the oxidative capacity of laccases were evaluated in an aqueous buffered medium using cyclic voltammetry. This clarifies which compounds fulfil the requisites to be considered as redox mediators or enhancers. Cyclic voltammetry was also applied as a rapid way to assess the catalytic efficiency (CE) of those compounds which oxidise a non-phenolic lignin model (veratryl alcohol, VA) and a kraft lignin (KL). With the exception of gallic acid and catechol, all assayed compounds were capable of oxidising VA with varying CE. However, only some of them were able to oxidise KL. Although the oxidised forms of HBT and acetovanillone were not electrochemically stable, their reduced forms were quickly regenerated in the presence of VA. They thus act as chemical catalysts. Importantly, HBT and HPI did not attack the KL via the same mechanism as in VA oxidation. Electrochemical evidence suggests that violuric acid oxidises both substrates by an electron transfer mechanism, unlike the other N-OH compounds HBT and HPI. Acetovanillone was found to be efficient in oxidising VA and KL, even better than the synthetic mediators TEMPO, violuric acid or ABTS. Most of the compounds produced a generalised increase in the oxidative charge of KL, probably attributed to chain reactions arising between the phenolic and non-phenolic components of this complex molecule

Catalytic efficiency of natural and synthetic compounds used as laccase-mediators in oxidising veratryl alcohol and a kraft lignin, estimated by electrochemical analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gonzalez Arzola, K. [Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of La Laguna, 38206 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain); Arevalo, M.C. [Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of La Laguna, 38206 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain)], E-mail: carevalo@ull.es; Falcon, M.A. [Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of La Laguna, 38206 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain)], E-mail: mafalcon@ull.es

2009-03-30

The electrochemical properties of eighteen natural and synthetic compounds commonly used to expand the oxidative capacity of laccases were evaluated in an aqueous buffered medium using cyclic voltammetry. This clarifies which compounds fulfil the requisites to be considered as redox mediators or enhancers. Cyclic voltammetry was also applied as a rapid way to assess the catalytic efficiency (CE) of those compounds which oxidise a non-phenolic lignin model (veratryl alcohol, VA) and a kraft lignin (KL). With the exception of gallic acid and catechol, all assayed compounds were capable of oxidising VA with varying CE. However, only some of them were able to oxidise KL. Although the oxidised forms of HBT and acetovanillone were not electrochemically stable, their reduced forms were quickly regenerated in the presence of VA. They thus act as chemical catalysts. Importantly, HBT and HPI did not attack the KL via the same mechanism as in VA oxidation. Electrochemical evidence suggests that violuric acid oxidises both substrates by an electron transfer mechanism, unlike the other N-OH compounds HBT and HPI. Acetovanillone was found to be efficient in oxidising VA and KL, even better than the synthetic mediators TEMPO, violuric acid or ABTS. Most of the compounds produced a generalised increase in the oxidative charge of KL, probably attributed to chain reactions arising between the phenolic and non-phenolic components of this complex molecule.

Autonomy and Fear of Synthetic Biology: How Can Patients' Autonomy Be Enhanced in the Field of Synthetic Biology? A Qualitative Study with Stable Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Rakic, Milenko; Wienand, Isabelle; Shaw, David; Nast, Rebecca; Elger, Bernice S

2017-04-01

We analyzed stable patients' views regarding synthetic biology in general, the medical application of synthetic biology, and their potential participation in trials of synthetic biology in particular. The aim of the study was to find out whether patients' views and preferences change after receiving more detailed information about synthetic biology and its clinical applications. The qualitative study was carried out with a purposive sample of 36 stable patients, who suffered from diabetes or gout. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, translated and fully anonymized. Thematic analysis was applied in order to examine stable patients' attitudes towards synthetic biology, its medical application, and their participation in trials. When patients were asked about synthetic biology in general, most of them were anxious that something uncontrollable could be created. After a concrete example of possible future treatment options, patients started to see synthetic biology in a more positive way. Our study constitutes an important first empirical insight into stable patients' views on synthetic biology and into the kind of fears triggered by the term "synthetic biology." Our results show that clear and concrete information can change patients' initial negative feelings towards synthetic biology. Information should thus be transmitted with great accuracy and transparency in order to reduce irrational fears of patients and to minimize the risk that researchers present facts too positively for the purposes of persuading patients to participate in clinical trials. Potential participants need to be adequately informed in order to be able to autonomously decide whether to participate in human subject research involving synthetic biology.

Oxidation study of the synthetic sulfides molybdenite (MoS2) and covellite (CuS) by acidithiobacillus ferrooxidants using respirometric experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Francisco Junior, Wilmo E.; Universidade Estadual Paulista; Bevilaqua, Denise; Garcia Junior, Oswaldo

2009-01-01

This paper analyses the oxidation of covellite and molybdenite by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans strain LR using respirometric experiments. The results showed that both sulfides were oxidized by A. ferrooxidans, however, the covellite oxidation was much higher than molybdenite. Regarding the kinetic oxidation, the findings revealed that just molybdenite oxidation followed the classical Michaelis-Menten kinetic. It is probably associated with the pathway which these sulfides react to chemistry-bacterial attack, what is influenced by its electronic structures. Besides, experiments conducted in the presence of Fe 3+ did not indicate alterations in molybdenite oxidation. Thus, ferric ions seem not to be essential to the sulfide oxidations. (author)

Synthetic Marijuana Induced Acute Nonischemic Left Ventricular Dysfunction.

Science.gov (United States)

Elsheshtawy, Moustafa; Sriganesh, Priatharsini; Virparia, Vasudev; Patel, Falgun; Khanna, Ashok

2016-01-01

Synthetic marijuana is an uptrending designer drug currently widely spread in the US. We report a case of acute deterioration of nonischemic left ventricular dysfunction after exposure to synthetic marijuana. This case illustrates the importance of history taking in cardiac patients and identifies a negative cardiovascular effect of synthetic marijuana known as K2, not yet well detected by urine toxicology screening tools.

Synthetic Marijuana Induced Acute Nonischemic Left Ventricular Dysfunction

OpenAIRE

Moustafa Elsheshtawy; Priatharsini Sriganesh; Vasudev Virparia; Falgun Patel; Ashok Khanna

2016-01-01

Synthetic marijuana is an uptrending designer drug currently widely spread in the US. We report a case of acute deterioration of nonischemic left ventricular dysfunction after exposure to synthetic marijuana. This case illustrates the importance of history taking in cardiac patients and identifies a negative cardiovascular effect of synthetic marijuana known as K2, not yet well detected by urine toxicology screening tools.

Synthetic cannabinoid: prevalence, mechanisms of addiction development, mental disorders associated with the use of synthetic cannabinoid

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antsyborov A.V.

2017-04-01

Full Text Available according to the authors among the new psychoactive substances, the number of which is growing every year, despite the measures aimed at the obstacles to their dissemination there discovered the most frequent violations of psychotic conditions associated with use of synthetic cannabinoid in clinical practice. On the black market, they are distributed through online shops, under the guise of herbal mixtures for Smoking. When ingested, this group of drugs at the peak of intoxication raises a number of mental (different according to the depth of impaired consciousness, auditory and visual hallucinations, panic attacks, acute psychotic paranoid disorders, catatonic stupor, polar affective disorders, acute polythematic delusional symptoms and somatic disorders (disorders of heart rhythm and conduction, acute ischemic disorders, hypertension, depression of respiratory activity, violation of thermoregulation, development of acute renal failure, vomiting, expressed cephalgia, clinic of hypokalemia. In the reviewed literature and authors own observations there have been discovered some cases of mental addiction development to synthetic cannabinoids. The analysis of new literature data and own clinical observations helped the authors to compare the psychotropic effects caused by this group of drugs, relative to other known surfactants. The toxic effects of CSC on the body greatly exceeds the use of plant cannabinoids, and it has almost the same effects as the synthetic cathinone’s. The speed of formation of psychological dependence is lower compared to synthetic cathinone. Developing current strategies for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of patients who use synthetic cannabinoids remains an important task for practical healthcare.

Synthetic aperture radar: principles and applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khan, N.A.; Yahya, K.M.

2003-01-01

In this paper an introduction to synthetic aperture radar is presented. Synthetic aperture radar is a relatively new remote sensing platform and the technology has matured a lot in the last two decades. This paper introduces the concepts behind SAR principles as well as the major areas where this new technology has shown additional information. (author)

Cerium oxide for the destruction of chemical warfare agents: A comparison of synthetic routes

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Janos, P.; Henych, Jiří; Pelant, O.; Pilařová, V.; Vrtoch, L.; Kormunda, M.; Mazanec, K.; Štengl, Václav

2016-01-01

Roč. 304, MAR (2016), s. 259-268 ISSN 0304-3894 Institutional support: RVO:61388980 Keywords : Cerium oxide * Chemical warfare agents * Organophosphate compounds * Decontamination Subject RIV: CA - Inorganic Chemistry Impact factor: 6.065, year: 2016

Nonheme oxoiron(IV) complexes of pentadentate N5 ligands: spectroscopy, electrochemistry, and oxidative reactivity

OpenAIRE

Wang, Dong; Ray, Kallol; Collins, Michael J.; Farquhar, Erik R.; Frisch, Jonathan R.; Gomez, Laura; Jackson, Timothy A.; Kerscher, Marion; Waleska, Arkadius; Comba, Peter; Costas, Miquel; Que, Lawrence, Jr.

2013-01-01

Oxoiron(IV) species have been found to act as the oxidants in the catalytic cycles of several mononuclear nonheme iron enzymes that activate dioxygen. To gain insight into the factors that govern the oxidative reactivity of such complexes, a series of five synthetic S = 1 [FeIV(O)(LN5)]2+ complexes has been characterized with respect to their spectroscopic and electrochemical properties as well as their relative abilities to carry out oxo transfer and hydrogen atom abstraction. The Fe=O units...

Magnetic microparticles post-synthetically coated by hyaluronic acid as an enhanced carrier for microfluidic bioanalysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holubova, Lucie; Knotek, Petr; Palarcik, Jiri; Cadkova, Michaela; Belina, Petr; Vlcek, Milan; Korecka, Lucie; Bilkova, Zuzana

2014-01-01

Iron oxide based particles functionalized by bioactive molecules have been utilized extensively in biotechnology and biomedicine. Despite their already proven advantages, instability under changing reaction conditions, non-specific sorption of biomolecules on the particles' surfaces, and iron oxide leakage from the naked particles can greatly limit their application. As confirmed many times, surface treatment with an appropriate stabilizer helps to minimize these disadvantages. In this work, we describe enhanced post-synthetic surface modification of superparamagnetic microparticles varying in materials and size using hyaluronic acid (HA) in various chain lengths. Scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, phase analysis light scattering and laser diffraction are the methods used for characterization of HA-coated particles. The zeta potential and thickness of HA-layer of HA-coated Dynabeads M270 Amine were − 50 mV and 85 nm, respectively, and of HA-coated p(GMA-MOEAA)-NH 2 were − 38 mV and 140 nm, respectively. The electrochemical analysis confirmed the zero leakage of magnetic material and no reactivity of particles with hydrogen peroxide. The rate of non-specific sorption of bovine serum albumin was reduced up to 50% of the naked ones. The coating efficiency and suitability of biopolymer-based microparticles for magnetically active microfluidic devices were confirmed. - Highlights: • Post-synthetic surface modification of magnetic microparticles by hyaluronic acid • Hyaluronic acid — polymer of unique physicochemical and biological characteristics • Panel of particle characterization methods was introduced. • HA-coated microparticles gain characteristics suited for microfluidic bioanalysis

Synthetic biology and the technicity of biofuels.

Science.gov (United States)

Mackenzie, Adrian

2013-06-01

The principal existing real-world application of synthetic biology is biofuels. Several 'next generation biofuel' companies-Synthetic Genomics, Amyris and Joule Unlimited Technologies-claim to be using synthetic biology to make biofuels. The irony of this is that highly advanced science and engineering serves the very mundane and familiar realm of transport. Despite their rather prosaic nature, biofuels could offer an interesting way to highlight the novelty of synthetic biology from several angles at once. Drawing on the French philosopher of technology and biology Gilbert Simondon, we can understand biofuels as technical objects whose genesis involves processes of concretisation that negotiate between heterogeneous geographical, biological, technical, scientific and commercial realities. Simondon's notion of technicity, the degree of concretisation of a technical object, usefully conceptualises this relationality. Viewed in terms of technicity, we might understand better how technical entities, elements, and ensembles are coming into being in the name of synthetic biology. The broader argument here is that when we seek to identify the newness of disciplines, their newness might be less epistemic and more logistic. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rheological characteristics of synthetic road binders

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gordon D. Airey; Musarrat H. Mohammed; Caroline Fichter [University of Nottingham, Nottingham (United Kingdom)

2008-08-15

This paper deals with the synthesis of polymer binders from monomers that could in future be derived from renewable resources. These binders consist of polyethyl acrylate (PEA) of different molecular weight, polymethyl acrylate (PMA) and polybutyl acrylate (PBA), which were synthesised from ethyl acrylate, methyl acrylate and butyl acrylate, respectively, by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The fundamental rheological properties of these binders were determined by means of a dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) using a combination of temperature and frequency sweeps. The results indicate that PEA has rheological properties similar to that of 100/150 penetration grade bitumen, PMA similar rheological properties to that of 10/20 penetration grade bitumen, while PBA, due to its highly viscous nature and low complex modulus, cannot be used on its own as an asphalt binder. The synthetic binders were also combined with conventional penetration grade bitumen to produce a range of bitumen-synthetic polymer binder blends. These blends were batched by mass in the ratio of 1:1 or 3:1 and subjected to the same DSR rheological testing as the synthetic binders. The blends consisting of a softer bitumen (70/100 pen or 100/150 pen) with a hard synthetic binder (PMA) tended to be more compatible and therefore stable and produced rheological properties that combined the properties of the two components. The synthetic binders and particularly the extended bitumen samples (blends) produced rheological properties that showed similar characteristics to elastomeric SBS PMBs. 30 refs., 12 figs., 2 tabs.

Brain imaging with synthetic MR in children: clinical quality assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Betts, Aaron M.; Serai, Suraj [Cincinnati Children' s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Radiology, Cincinnati, OH (United States); Leach, James L.; Jones, Blaise V. [Cincinnati Children' s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Radiology, Cincinnati, OH (United States); University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH (United States); Zhang, Bin [Cincinnati Children' s Hospital Medical Center, Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Cincinnati, OH (United States)

2016-10-15

Synthetic magnetic resonance imaging is a quantitative imaging technique that measures inherent T1-relaxation, T2-relaxation, and proton density. These inherent tissue properties allow synthesis of various imaging sequences from a single acquisition. Clinical use of synthetic MR imaging has been described in adult populations. However, use of synthetic MR imaging has not been previously reported in children. The purpose of this study is to report our assessment of diagnostic image quality using synthetic MR imaging in children. Synthetic MR acquisition was obtained in a sample of children undergoing brain MR imaging. Image quality assessments were performed on conventional and synthetic T1-weighted, T2-weighted, and FLAIR images. Standardized linear measurements were performed on conventional and synthetic T2 images. Estimates of patient age based upon myelination patterns were also performed. Conventional and synthetic MR images were evaluated on 30 children. Using a 4-point assessment scale, conventional imaging performed better than synthetic imaging for T1-weighted, T2-weighted, and FLAIR images. When the assessment was simplified to a dichotomized scale, the conventional and synthetic T1-weighted and T2-weighted images performed similarly. However, the superiority of conventional FLAIR images persisted in the dichotomized assessment. There were no statistically significant differences between linear measurements made on T2-weighted images. Estimates of patient age based upon pattern of myelination were also similar between conventional and synthetic techniques. Synthetic MR imaging may be acceptable for clinical use in children. However, users should be aware of current limitations that could impact clinical utility in the software version used in this study. (orig.)

Astaxanthin from Haematococcus pluvialis Prevents Oxidative Stress on Human Endothelial Cells without Toxicity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Philippe Régnier

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Astaxanthin, a powerful antioxidant, is a good candidate for the prevention of intracellular oxidative stress. The aim of the study was to compare the antioxidant activity of astaxanthin present in two natural extracts from Haematococcus pluvialis, a microalgae strain, with that of synthetic astaxanthin. Natural extracts were obtained either by solvent or supercritical extraction methods. UV, HPLC-DAD and (HPLC-(atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI+/ion trap-MS characterizations of both natural extracts showed similar compositions of carotenoids, but different percentages in free astaxanthin and its ester derivatives. The Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC assay showed that natural extracts containing esters displayed stronger antioxidant activities than free astaxanthin. Their antioxidant capacities to inhibit intracellular oxidative stress were then evaluated on HUVEC cells. The intracellular antioxidant activity in natural extracts was approximately 90-times higher than synthetic astaxanthin (5 µM. No modification, neither in the morphology nor in the viability, of vascular human cells was observed by in vitro biocompatibility study up to 10 µM astaxanthin concentrations. Therefore, these results revealed the therapeutic potential of the natural extracts in vascular human cell protection against oxidative stress without toxicity, which could be exploited in prevention and/or treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

The Role of Synthetic Biology in NASA's Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Rothschild, Lynn J.

2016-01-01

The time has come to for NASA to exploit synthetic biology in pursuit of its missions, including aeronautics, earth science, astrobiology and most notably, human exploration. Conversely, NASA advances the fundamental technology of synthetic biology as no one else can because of its unique expertise in the origin of life and life in extreme environments, including the potential for alternate life forms. This enables unique, creative "game changing" advances. NASA's requirement for minimizing upmass in flight will also drive the field toward miniaturization and automation. These drivers will greatly increase the utility of synthetic biology solutions for military, health in remote areas and commercial purposes. To this end, we have begun a program at NASA to explore the use of synthetic biology in NASA's missions, particular space exploration. As part of this program, we began hosting an iGEM team of undergraduates drawn from Brown and Stanford Universities to conduct synthetic biology research at NASA Ames Research Center. The 2011 team (http://2011.igem.org/Team:Brown-Stanford) produced an award-winning project on using synthetic biology as a basis for a human Mars settlement.

Effect of communities of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria on degradation of 17-alpha-ethynylestradiol by nitrifying activated sludge

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Limpiyakorn, T.; Sermwaraphan, P.; Kurisu, F.

2009-07-01

An endocrine disrupting compound, 17-alpha-ethynylestradiol (EE2), is a synthetic estrogen used as a key ingredient in oral contraceptives pill. this persistent organic pollutant, no biodegradable by most microorganisms, is discharged via municipal waste streams to natural receiving waters. Recently, it was found that ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in nitrifying activated sludge (NAS) enriched with high ammonium loads can degrade EE2 via co-metabolism during ammonia oxidation. (Author)

[Smart therapeutics based on synthetic gene circuits].

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Shuguang; Xie, Zhen

2017-03-25

Synthetic biology has an important impact on biology research since its birth. Applying the thought and methods that reference from electrical engineering, synthetic biology uncovers many regulatory mechanisms of life systems, transforms and expands a series of biological components. Therefore, it brings a wide range of biomedical applications, including providing new ideas for disease diagnosis and treatment. This review describes the latest advances in the field of disease diagnosis and therapy based on mammalian cell or bacterial synthetic gene circuits, and provides new ideas for future smart therapy design.

Synthetic Metabolic Pathways

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Synthetic Metabolic Pathways: Methods and Protocols aims to ensure successful results in the further study...

Au Nanoparticle Sub-Monolayers Sandwiched between Sol-Gel Oxide Thin Films

Science.gov (United States)

Della Gaspera, Enrico; Menin, Enrico; Sada, Cinzia

2018-01-01

Sub-monolayers of monodisperse Au colloids with different surface coverage have been embedded in between two different metal oxide thin films, combining sol-gel depositions and proper substrates functionalization processes. The synthetized films were TiO2, ZnO, and NiO. X-ray diffraction shows the crystallinity of all the oxides and verifies the nominal surface coverage of Au colloids. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of the metal nanoparticles is affected by both bottom and top oxides: in fact, the SPR peak of Au that is sandwiched between two different oxides is centered between the SPR frequencies of Au sub-monolayers covered with only one oxide, suggesting that Au colloids effectively lay in between the two oxide layers. The desired organization of Au nanoparticles and the morphological structure of the prepared multi-layered structures has been confirmed by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analyses that show a high quality sandwich structure. The multi-layered structures have been also tested as optical gas sensors. PMID:29538338

Polyethylene/synthetic boehmite alumina nanocomposites: Structure, thermal and rheological properties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Synthetic boehmite alumina (BA has been incorporated up to 8 wt% in low density polyethylene (LDPE and high density polyethylene (HDPE, respectively, by melt compounding. The primary nominal particle size of these two BA grades was 40 and 60 nm, respectively. The dispersion of the BA in polyethylene (PE matrices was investigated by scanning and transmission electron microscopy techniques (SEM and TEM. The thermal (melting and crystallization, thermooxidative (oxidation induction temperature and time, and rheological behaviors of the nanocomposites were determined. It was found that BA is nanoscale dispersed in both LDPE and HDPE without any surface treatment and additional polymeric compatibilizer. BA practically did not influence the thermal (melting and crystallization and rheological properties of the parent PEs. On the other hand, BA worked as a powerful thermooxidative stabilizer for LDPE, and especially for HDPE nanocomposites.

A Synthetic Ecology Perspective: How Well Does Behavior of Model Organisms in the Laboratory Predict Microbial Activities in Natural Habitats?

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Zheng; Krause, Sascha M B; Beck, David A C; Chistoserdova, Ludmila

2016-01-01

In this perspective article, we question how well model organisms, the ones that are easy to cultivate in the laboratory and that show robust growth and biomass accumulation, reflect the dynamics and interactions of microbial communities observed in nature. Today's -omics toolbox allows assessing the genomic potential of microbes in natural environments in a high-throughput fashion and at a strain-level resolution. However, understanding of the details of microbial activities and of the mechanistic bases of community function still requires experimental validation in simplified and fully controlled systems such as synthetic communities. We have studied methane utilization in Lake Washington sediment for a few decades and have identified a number of species genetically equipped for this activity. We have also identified co-occurring satellite species that appear to form functional communities together with the methanotrophs. Here, we compare experimental findings from manipulation of natural communities involved in metabolism of methane in this niche with findings from manipulation of synthetic communities assembled in the laboratory of species originating from the same study site, from very simple (two-species) to rather complex (50-species) synthetic communities. We observe some common trends in community dynamics between the two types of communities, toward representation of specific functional guilds. However, we also identify strong discrepancies between the dominant methane oxidizers in synthetic communities compared to natural communities, under similar incubation conditions. These findings highlight the challenges that exist in using the synthetic community approach to modeling dynamics and species interactions in natural communities.

Synthetic Marijuana Induced Acute Nonischemic Left Ventricular Dysfunction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moustafa Elsheshtawy

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Synthetic marijuana is an uptrending designer drug currently widely spread in the US. We report a case of acute deterioration of nonischemic left ventricular dysfunction after exposure to synthetic marijuana. This case illustrates the importance of history taking in cardiac patients and identifies a negative cardiovascular effect of synthetic marijuana known as K2, not yet well detected by urine toxicology screening tools.

Application of the Organic Synthetic Designs to Astrobiology

Science.gov (United States)

Kolb, V. M.

2009-12-01

In this paper we propose a synthesis of the heterocyclic compounds and the insoluble materials on the meteorites. Our synthetic scheme involves the reaction of sugars and amino acids, the so-called Maillard reaction. We have developed this scheme based on the combined analysis of the regular and retrosynthetic organic synthetic principles. The merits of these synthetic methods for the prebiotic design are addressed.

Mineral dielectric constants and the oxide additivity rule

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shannon, R.D.; Subramanian, M.A.; Mariano, A.N.; Rossman, G.R.

1989-01-01

The 1 MHz dielectric constants of a variety of synthetic aluminate garnets: Y 3 Al 5 O 12 , Ho 3 Al 5 O 12 , Y 2.93 Nd .07 Sc 2 Al 3 O 12 and Gd 2.95 Nd .05 Sc 1.98 Cr .02 Al 3 O 12 and several silicates: CaB 2 Si 2 O 8 (danburite), Ca 3 Al 2 Si 3 O 12 (grossular) and Mg 2 Al 4 Si 5 O 18 (cordierite) were determined using the two-terminal method with edge corrections. These data and polarizabilities derived from the published single crystal dielectric constants of simple oxides were used to compare compound polarizabilities obtained from the Clausius-Mosotti equation and the oxide additivity rule

Synthetic neurosteroids on brain protection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariana Rey

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Neurosteroids, like allopregnanolone and pregnanolone, are endogenous regulators of neuronal excitability. Inside the brain, they are highly selective and potent modulators of GABA A receptor activity. Their anticonvulsant, anesthetics and anxiolytic properties are useful for the treatments of several neurological and psychiatric disorders via reducing the risks of side effects obtained with the commercial drugs. The principal disadvantages of endogenous neurosteroids administration are their rapid metabolism and their low oral bioavailability. Synthetic steroids analogues with major stability or endogenous neurosteroids stimulation synthesis might constitute promising novel strategies for the treatment of several disorders. Numerous studies indicate that the 3α-hydroxyl configuration is the key for binding and activity, but modifications in the steroid nucleus may emphasize different pharmacophores. So far, several synthetic steroids have been developed with successful neurosteroid-like effects. In this work, we summarize the properties of various synthetic steroids probed in trials throughout the analysis of several neurosteroids-like actions.

Paper-based synthetic gene networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Pardee, Keith; Green, Alexander A; Ferrante, Tom; Cameron, D Ewen; DaleyKeyser, Ajay; Yin, Peng; Collins, James J

2014-11-06

Synthetic gene networks have wide-ranging uses in reprogramming and rewiring organisms. To date, there has not been a way to harness the vast potential of these networks beyond the constraints of a laboratory or in vivo environment. Here, we present an in vitro paper-based platform that provides an alternate, versatile venue for synthetic biologists to operate and a much-needed medium for the safe deployment of engineered gene circuits beyond the lab. Commercially available cell-free systems are freeze dried onto paper, enabling the inexpensive, sterile, and abiotic distribution of synthetic-biology-based technologies for the clinic, global health, industry, research, and education. For field use, we create circuits with colorimetric outputs for detection by eye and fabricate a low-cost, electronic optical interface. We demonstrate this technology with small-molecule and RNA actuation of genetic switches, rapid prototyping of complex gene circuits, and programmable in vitro diagnostics, including glucose sensors and strain-specific Ebola virus sensors.

Paper-based Synthetic Gene Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Pardee, Keith; Green, Alexander A.; Ferrante, Tom; Cameron, D. Ewen; DaleyKeyser, Ajay; Yin, Peng; Collins, James J.

2014-01-01

Synthetic gene networks have wide-ranging uses in reprogramming and rewiring organisms. To date, there has not been a way to harness the vast potential of these networks beyond the constraints of a laboratory or in vivo environment. Here, we present an in vitro paper-based platform that provides a new venue for synthetic biologists to operate, and a much-needed medium for the safe deployment of engineered gene circuits beyond the lab. Commercially available cell-free systems are freeze-dried onto paper, enabling the inexpensive, sterile and abiotic distribution of synthetic biology-based technologies for the clinic, global health, industry, research and education. For field use, we create circuits with colorimetric outputs for detection by eye, and fabricate a low-cost, electronic optical interface. We demonstrate this technology with small molecule and RNA actuation of genetic switches, rapid prototyping of complex gene circuits, and programmable in vitro diagnostics, including glucose sensors and strain-specific Ebola virus sensors. PMID:25417167

Engineering of synthetic, stress-responsive yeast promoters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rajkumar, Arun Stephen; Liu, Guodong; Bergenholm, David

2016-01-01

Advances in synthetic biology and our understanding of the rules of promoter architecture have led to the development of diverse synthetic constitutive and inducible promoters in eukaryotes and prokaryotes. However, the design of promoters inducibleby specific endogenous or environmental conditions...

Opportunities for microfluidic technologies in synthetic biology

OpenAIRE

Gulati, Shelly; Rouilly, Vincent; Niu, Xize; Chappell, James; Kitney, Richard I.; Edel, Joshua B.; Freemont, Paul S.; deMello, Andrew J.

2009-01-01

We introduce microfluidics technologies as a key foundational technology for synthetic biology experimentation. Recent advances in the field of microfluidics are reviewed and the potential of such a technological platform to support the rapid development of synthetic biology solutions is discussed.

[Research progress of mammalian synthetic biology in biomedical field].

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Linfeng; Yin, Jianli; Wang, Meiyan; Ye, Haifeng

2017-03-25

Although still in its infant stage, synthetic biology has achieved remarkable development and progress during the past decade. Synthetic biology applies engineering principles to design and construct gene circuits uploaded into living cells or organisms to perform novel or improved functions, and it has been widely used in many fields. In this review, we describe the recent advances of mammalian synthetic biology for the treatment of diseases. We introduce common tools and design principles of synthetic gene circuits, and then we demonstrate open-loop gene circuits induced by different trigger molecules used in disease diagnosis and close-loop gene circuits used for biomedical applications. Finally, we discuss the perspectives and potential challenges of synthetic biology for clinical applications.

Manipulating novel quantum phenomena using synthetic gauge fields

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Shao-Liang; Zhou, Qi

2017-11-01

The past few years have seen fascinating progress in the creation and utilization of synthetic gauge fields for charge-neutral ultracold atoms. Whereas the synthesis of gauge fields in itself is readily interesting, it is more exciting to explore the new era that will be brought by the interplay between synthetic gauge fields and many other degrees of freedom of highly tunable ultracold atoms. This topical review surveys recent developments in using synthetic gauge fields to manipulate novel quantum phenomena that are not easy to access in other systems. We first summarize current experimental methods of creating synthetic gauge fields, including the use of Raman schemes, shaken lattices, and Raman-dressed lattices. We then discuss how synthetic gauge fields bring new physics to non-interacting systems, including degenerate single-particle ground states, quartic dispersions, topological band structures in lattices, and synthetic dimensions. As for interacting systems, we focus on novel quantum many-body states and quantum macroscopic phenomena induced by interactions in the presence of unconventional single-particle dispersions. For bosons, we discuss how a quartic dispersion leads to non-condensed bosonic states at low temperatures and at the ground state. For fermions, we discuss chiral superfluids in the presence of attractive s-wave interaction, where high partial-wave interactions are not required. Finally, we discuss the challenges in current experiments, and conclude with an outlook for what new exciting developments synthetic gauge fields may bring us in the near future.

Study of seed for synthetical quartz

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuki, C.K.; Torikai, D.

1988-01-01

Natural quartz blocks for seed (synthetic quartz technology) were studied by using various characterization techniques, such as X-ray topography, optical micrography, inspectoscopy, polariscopy and conoscopy, and etching. One of the most commonly found defect is the electrical or Dauphine twin. In The present research, we have developed a methodology to obtain a highly perfect seed for the synthetic quartz industries. (author) [pt

75 FR 52752 - Request for Comments on Synthetic Biology

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-27

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Request for Comments on Synthetic Biology AGENCY... Bioethical Issues is requesting public comment on the emerging science of synthetic biology, including its... Commission has begun an inquiry into the emerging science of synthetic biology. The President asked the...

Parity-Time Synthetic Phononic Media

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Johan; Willatzen, Morten; Velasco, V. R.

2016-01-01

media, have been devised in many optical systems with the ground breaking potential to create nonreciprocal structures and one-way cloaks of invisibility. Here we demonstrate a feasible approach for the case of sound where the most important ingredients within synthetic materials, loss and gain......, are achieved through electrically biased piezoelectric semiconductors. We study first how wave attenuation and amplification can be tuned, and when combined, can give rise to a phononic PT synthetic media with unidirectional suppressed reflectance, a feature directly applicable to evading sonar detection....

Multi-antenna synthetic aperture radar

CERN Document Server

Wang, Wen-Qin

2013-01-01

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is a well-known remote sensing technique, but conventional single-antenna SAR is inherently limited by the minimum antenna area constraint. Although there are still technical issues to overcome, multi-antenna SAR offers many benefits, from improved system gain to increased degrees-of-freedom and system flexibility. Multi-Antenna Synthetic Aperture Radar explores the potential and challenges of using multi-antenna SAR in microwave remote sensing applications. These applications include high-resolution imaging, wide-swath remote sensing, ground moving target indica

21 CFR 172.275 - Synthetic paraffin and succinic derivatives.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 3 2010-04-01 2009-04-01 true Synthetic paraffin and succinic derivatives. 172... FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION Coatings, Films and Related Substances § 172.275 Synthetic paraffin and succinic derivatives. Synthetic paraffin and succinic derivatives identified in this section may be safely...

Electrochemical and spectroscopic characterisation of amphetamine-like drugs: Application to the screening of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and its synthetic precursors

OpenAIRE

Milhazes, Nuno; Martins, Pedro; Uriarte, Eugenio; Garrido, Jorge; Calheiros, Rita; Marques, M. Paula M.; Borges, Fernanda

2007-01-01

A complete physicochemical characterisation of MDMA and its synthetic precursors MDA, 3,4-methylenedioxybenzaldehyde (piperonal) and 3,4-methylenedioxy-beta-methyl-beta-nitrostyrene was carried out through voltammetric assays and Raman spectroscopy combined with theoretical (DFT) calculations. The former provided important analytical redox data, concluding that the oxidative mechanism of the N-demethylation of MDMA involves the removal of an electron from the amino-nitrogen atom, leading to t...

Design and construction of "synthetic species".

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eduardo Moreno

Full Text Available Synthetic biology is an area of biological research that combines science and engineering. Here, I merge the principles of synthetic biology and regulatory evolution to create a new species with a minimal set of known elements. Using preexisting transgenes and recessive mutations of Drosophila melanogaster, a transgenic population arises with small eyes and a different venation pattern that fulfils the criteria of a new species according to Mayr's Biological Species Concept. The population described here is the first transgenic organism that cannot hybridize with the original wild type population but remains fertile when crossed with other identical transgenic animals. I therefore propose the term "synthetic species" to distinguish it from "natural species", not only because it has been created by genetic manipulation, but also because it may never be able to survive outside the laboratory environment. The use of genetic engineering to design artificial species barriers could help us understand natural speciation and may have practical applications. For instance, the transition from transgenic organisms towards synthetic species could constitute a safety mechanism to avoid the hybridization of genetically modified animals with wild type populations, preserving biodiversity.

Dissolution of synthetic uranium dibutyl phosphate deposits in oxidizing and reducing chemical formulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rufus, A.L.; Sathyaseelan, V.S.; Narasimhan, S.V.; Velmurugan, S.

2013-01-01

Graphical abstract: SEM of the U-DBP coated stainless steel coupon before and after exposure to chemical formulation containing acid permanganate at 80 °C. -- Highlights: •Combination of oxidation and reduction processes efficiently dissolves U-DBP deposits. •NP and NAC formulations are compatible with SS-304. •Dissolved uranium and added chemicals are effectively removed via ion exchangers. -- Abstract: Permanganate and nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) based dilute chemical formulations were evaluated for the dissolution of uranium dibutyl phosphate (U-DBP), a compound that deposits over the surfaces of nuclear reprocessing plants and waste storage tanks. A combination of an acidic, oxidizing treatment (nitric acid with permanganate) followed by reducing treatment (NTA based formulation) efficiently dissolved the U-DBP deposits. The dissolution isotherm of U-DBP in its as precipitated form followed a logarithmic fit. The same chemical treatment was also effective in dissolving U-DBP coated on the surface of 304-stainless steel, while resulting in minimal corrosion of the stainless steel substrate material. Investigation of uranium recovery from the resulting decontamination solutions by ion exchange with a bed of mixed anion and cation resins showed quantitative removal of uranium

Dissolution of synthetic uranium dibutyl phosphate deposits in oxidizing and reducing chemical formulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rufus, A.L.; Sathyaseelan, V.S.; Narasimhan, S.V.; Velmurugan, S., E-mail: svelu@igcar.gov.in

2013-06-15

Graphical abstract: SEM of the U-DBP coated stainless steel coupon before and after exposure to chemical formulation containing acid permanganate at 80 °C. -- Highlights: •Combination of oxidation and reduction processes efficiently dissolves U-DBP deposits. •NP and NAC formulations are compatible with SS-304. •Dissolved uranium and added chemicals are effectively removed via ion exchangers. -- Abstract: Permanganate and nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) based dilute chemical formulations were evaluated for the dissolution of uranium dibutyl phosphate (U-DBP), a compound that deposits over the surfaces of nuclear reprocessing plants and waste storage tanks. A combination of an acidic, oxidizing treatment (nitric acid with permanganate) followed by reducing treatment (NTA based formulation) efficiently dissolved the U-DBP deposits. The dissolution isotherm of U-DBP in its as precipitated form followed a logarithmic fit. The same chemical treatment was also effective in dissolving U-DBP coated on the surface of 304-stainless steel, while resulting in minimal corrosion of the stainless steel substrate material. Investigation of uranium recovery from the resulting decontamination solutions by ion exchange with a bed of mixed anion and cation resins showed quantitative removal of uranium.

Efficacy of bio and synthetic pesticides against the American ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Management for the bollworm complex in Uganda is largely synthetic chemical use with little or no biopesticide use which reduces natural enemies population and resistance development to continuous use of a single synthetic pesticide product. Therefore this study aimed at determining the efficacy of bio and synthetic ...

Metal immobilization in soils using synthetic zeolites

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Osté, L.A.; Lexmond, T.M.; Riemsdijk, van W.H.

2002-01-01

In situ immobilization of heavy metals in contaminated soils is a technique to improve soil quality. Synthetic zeolites are potentially useful additives to bind heavy metals. This study selected the most effective zeolite in cadmium and zinc binding out of six synthetic zeolites (mordenite-type,

Synthetic Self-Assembled Materials in Biological Environments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Versluis, F.; van Esch, J.H.; Eelkema, R.

2016-01-01

Synthetic self-assembly has long been recognized as an excellent approach for the formation of ordered structures on the nanoscale. Although the development of synthetic self-assembling materials has often been inspired by principles observed in nature (e.g., the assembly of lipids, DNA,

Stereoscopy in cinematographic synthetic imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Eisenmann, Jonathan; Parent, Rick

2009-02-01

In this paper we present experiments and results pertaining to the perception of depth in stereoscopic viewing of synthetic imagery. In computer animation, typical synthetic imagery is highly textured and uses stylized illumination of abstracted material models by abstracted light source models. While there have been numerous studies concerning stereoscopic capabilities, conventions for staging and cinematography in stereoscopic movies have not yet been well-established. Our long-term goal is to measure the effectiveness of various cinematography techniques on the human visual system in a theatrical viewing environment. We would like to identify the elements of stereoscopic cinema that are important in terms of enhancing the viewer's understanding of a scene as well as providing guidelines for the cinematographer relating to storytelling. In these experiments we isolated stereoscopic effects by eliminating as many other visual cues as is reasonable. In particular, we aim to empirically determine what types of movement in synthetic imagery affect the perceptual depth sensing capabilities of our viewers. Using synthetic imagery, we created several viewing scenarios in which the viewer is asked to locate a target object's depth in a simple environment. The scenarios were specifically designed to compare the effectiveness of stereo viewing, camera movement, and object motion in aiding depth perception. Data were collected showing the error between the choice of the user and the actual depth value, and patterns were identified that relate the test variables to the viewer's perceptual depth accuracy in our theatrical viewing environment.

Where Synthetic Biology Meets ET

Science.gov (United States)

Rothschild, Lynn J.

2016-01-01

Synthetic biology - the design and construction of new biological parts and systems and the redesign of existing ones for useful purposes - has the potential to transform fields from pharmaceuticals to fuels. Our lab has focused on the potential of synthetic biology to revolutionize all three major parts of astrobiology: Where do we come from? Where are we going? and Are we alone? For the first and third, synthetic biology is allowing us to answer whether the evolutionary narrative that has played out on planet earth is likely to have been unique or universal. For example, in our lab we are re-evolving the biosynthetic pathways of amino acids in order to understand potential capabilities of an early organism with a limited repertoire of amino acids and developing techniques for the recovery of metals from spent electronics on other planetary bodies. And what about the limits for life? Can we create organisms that expand the envelope for life? In the future synthetic biology will play an increasing role in human activities both on earth, in fields as diverse as human health and the industrial production of novel bio-composites. Beyond earth, we will rely increasingly on biologically-provided life support, as we have throughout our evolutionary history. In order to do this, the field will build on two of the great contributions of astrobiology: studies of the origin of life and life in extreme environments.

Assessment of synthetic image fidelity

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Kevin D.; Moorhead, Ian R.; Gilmore, Marilyn A.; Watson, Graham H.; Thomson, Mitch; Yates, T.; Troscianko, Tomasz; Tolhurst, David J.

2000-07-01

Computer generated imagery is increasingly used for a wide variety of purposes ranging from computer games to flight simulators to camouflage and sensor assessment. The fidelity required for this imagery is dependent on the anticipated use - for example when used for camouflage design it must be physically correct spectrally and spatially. The rendering techniques used will also depend upon the waveband being simulated, spatial resolution of the sensor and the required frame rate. Rendering of natural outdoor scenes is particularly demanding, because of the statistical variation in materials and illumination, atmospheric effects and the complex geometric structures of objects such as trees. The accuracy of the simulated imagery has tended to be assessed subjectively in the past. First and second order statistics do not capture many of the essential characteristics of natural scenes. Direct pixel comparison would impose an unachievable demand on the synthetic imagery. For many applications, such as camouflage design, it is important that nay metrics used will work in both visible and infrared wavebands. We are investigating a variety of different methods of comparing real and synthetic imagery and comparing synthetic imagery rendered to different levels of fidelity. These techniques will include neural networks (ICA), higher order statistics and models of human contrast perception. This paper will present an overview of the analyses we have carried out and some initial results along with some preliminary conclusions regarding the fidelity of synthetic imagery.

The Pharmacologic and Clinical Effects of Illicit Synthetic Cannabinoids.

Science.gov (United States)

White, C Michael

2017-03-01

This article presents information on illicitly used synthetic cannabinoids. Synthetic cannabinoids are structurally heterogeneous and commonly used drugs of abuse that act as full agonists of the cannabinoid type-1 receptor but have a variety of additional pharmacologic effects. There are numerous cases of patient harm and death in the United States, Europe, and Australia with many psychological, neurological, cardiovascular, pulmonary, and renal adverse events. Although most users prefer using cannabis, there are convenience, legal, and cost reasons driving the utilization of synthetic cannabinoids. Clinicians should be aware of pharmacologic and clinical similarities and differences between synthetic cannabinoid and cannabis use, the limited ability to detect synthetic cannabinoids in the urine or serum, and guidance to treat adverse events. © 2016, The American College of Clinical Pharmacology.

Synthetic biology for pharmaceutical drug discovery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trosset JY

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Jean-Yves Trosset,1 Pablo Carbonell2,3 1Bioinformation Research Laboratory, Sup’Biotech, Villejuif, France; 2Faculty of Life Sciences, SYNBIOCHEM Centre, Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK; 3Department of Experimental and Health Sciences (DCEXS, Research Programme on Biomedical Informatics (GRIB, Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF, Barcelona, Spain Abstract: Synthetic biology (SB is an emerging discipline, which is slowly reorienting the field of drug discovery. For thousands of years, living organisms such as plants were the major source of human medicines. The difficulty in resynthesizing natural products, however, often turned pharmaceutical industries away from this rich source for human medicine. More recently, progress on transformation through genetic manipulation of biosynthetic units in microorganisms has opened the possibility of in-depth exploration of the large chemical space of natural products derivatives. Success of SB in drug synthesis culminated with the bioproduction of artemisinin by microorganisms, a tour de force in protein and metabolic engineering. Today, synthetic cells are not only used as biofactories but also used as cell-based screening platforms for both target-based and phenotypic-based approaches. Engineered genetic circuits in synthetic cells are also used to decipher disease mechanisms or drug mechanism of actions and to study cell–cell communication within bacteria consortia. This review presents latest developments of SB in the field of drug discovery, including some challenging issues such as drug resistance and drug toxicity. Keywords: metabolic engineering, plant synthetic biology, natural products, synthetic quorum sensing, drug resistance

Cfd modeling of a synthetic jet actuator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dghim, Marouane; Ben Chiekh, Maher; Ben Nasrallah, Sassi

2009-01-01

Synthetic jet actuators show good promise as an enabling technology for innovative boundary layer flow control applied to external surfaces, like airplane wings, and to internal flows, like those occurring in a curved engine inlet. The appealing characteristics of a synthetic jet are zero-net-mass flux operation and an efficient control effect that takes advantages of unsteady fluid phenomena. The formation of a synthetic jet in a quiescent external air flow is only beginning to be understood and a rational understanding of these devices is necessary before they can be applied to the control of flows outside of the laboratory. The synthetic jet flow generated by a planar orifice is investigated here using computational approach. Computations of the 2D synthetic jet are performed with unsteady RANS modeled with the Realizable κ - ε turbulence model available in FLUENT environment. In this present work, the ability of the first order turbulence model, employed in our computations, to model the formation of the counter-rotating-vortex pair (CVP) that appears in the flow-field was investigated. Computational results were in good agreement with experimental measurements. The effectiveness of such control actuator was tested on separated boundary layer. Preliminary investigation were presented and discussed

Oxidative stability of the lipid fraction in cookies – the EPR study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zawada Katarzyna

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Cookies are a group of convenient food products that are popular among consumers. They may contain high amounts of fats, which can be prone to oxidation. To retard the oxidative deterioration, synthetic and natural antioxidants may be added. Herb and spice extracts can be sources of natural biologically active substances with antioxidant activity. In this work, electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to monitor the lipid oxidation in cookies with rosemary and thyme extracts subjected to the storage in elevated temperature. It was shown that thyme extract can be used as a natural antioxidant source for the preparation of bakery products, while the rosemary extract should be used with care in fat-rich products exposed to high temperatures.

Misconceptions of Synthetic Biology: Lessons from an Interdisciplinary Summer School

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Verseux, Cyprien; G Acevedo-Rocha, Carlos; Chizzolini, Fabio

2016-01-01

In 2014, an international group of scholars from various fields analysed the "societal dimensions" of synthetic biology in an interdisciplinary summer school. Here, we report and discuss the biologists' observations on the general perception of synthetic biology by non-biologists who took part...... in this event. Most attendees mainly associated synthetic biology with contributions from the best-known public figures of the field, rarely mentioning other scientists. Media extrapolations of those contributions appeared to have created unrealistic expectations and irrelevant fears that were widely...... disconnected from the current research in synthetic biology. Another observation was that when debating developments in synthetic biology, semantics strongly mattered: depending on the terms used to present an application of synthetic biology, attendees reacted in radically different ways. For example, using...

Synthetic and Empirical Capsicum Annuum Image Dataset

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Barth, R.

2016-01-01

This dataset consists of per-pixel annotated synthetic (10500) and empirical images (50) of Capsicum annuum, also known as sweet or bell pepper, situated in a commercial greenhouse. Furthermore, the source models to generate the synthetic images are included. The aim of the datasets are to

The NanoCare project: A German initiative on health aspects of synthetic nanoparticles

Science.gov (United States)

Nau, Katja; Krug, Harald F.

2009-05-01

Nanotechnology is increasingly considered to be the future technology. It will enable science and industry to provide new and better product solutions for the society. NanoCare is a German project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), which aims to broaden knowledge about synthetic nanomaterials with regard to the potential impacts of nanomaterials on human health. 13 partners from industry, universities and research institutes are contributing their expertise to this partnership. The work plan of the NanoCare project is composed of three different parts: (1) the generation, (2) the management, and (3) the transfer of knowledge. The production of synthetic nanoparticles, the subsequent analysis of primary particles, aggregates and agglomerates, as well as the behaviour in biological media and effects on biological systems are focused in the generation of knowledge. In addition to the production and characterization of new synthetic nanoparticles (metal oxides like zirconium dioxide or zinc oxide), titanium dioxide and Carbon Black will be established as reference materials. This enables the comparison of the results of all partners of our project. Various analytical methods for characterization will be applied, for example: transmission and scanning electron microscopy, inductive coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS), atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) and the Brunner-Edward-Teller method (BET). In vitro studies will systematically investigate biological mechanisms of action of nanoparticles and the dependency on their size, shape, zeta potential and other important properties. In vitro data will be complemented by in vivo studies. Another work package deals with the measurement of working place exposure and agglomerate stabilities. Established measurement devices and methods will be developed further in order to determine aerosols and nanoparticles directly at the workplace during ongoing work processes. The stabilities of

Exchange bias coupling in NiO/Ni bilayer tubular nanostructures synthetized by electrodeposition and thermal oxidation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yu, T., E-mail: work_tian@scu.edu.cn [College of Physical Science and Technology, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064 (China); Zhang, Z.W.; Xu, Y.H. [College of Physical Science and Technology, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064 (China); Liu, Y. [Analytical & Testing Center, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064 (China); Li, W.J. [Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (China); Nie, Y.; Zhang, X. [College of Physical Science and Technology, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064 (China); Xiang, G., E-mail: gxiang@scu.edu.cn [College of Physical Science and Technology, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064 (China)

2017-05-01

In this paper, we reported the synthesis of NiO/Ni bilayer nanotubes by electrodeposition and thermal oxidation using anodic aluminum oxide templates. The morphology, structure, chemical composition and magnetic properties, especially magnetic exchange bias induced by subsequent magnetic field cooling, in this one-dimensional antiferromagnetic/ferromagnetic hybrid system were investigated. It was found that the effect of the annealing temperature, which mainly dominated the thickness of the NiO layer, and the annealing time, which mainly dominated the grain size of the NiO, on the exchange bias field showed competitive relationship. The optimized exchange bias field was achieved by the combination of the shorter annealing time and higher annealing temperature. - Highlights: • NiO-Ni bilayer tubular nanotubes were fabricated by electrodeposition and thermal oxidation. • The exchange bias effect in NiO-Ni nanotubes was induced by magnetic field cooling. • The competitive effect of annealing temperature and annealing time on the exchange bias coupling was analyzed.

Synthetic biology platform technologies for antimicrobial applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Braff, Dana; Shis, David; Collins, James J

2016-10-01

The growing prevalence of antibiotic resistance calls for new approaches in the development of antimicrobial therapeutics. Likewise, improved diagnostic measures are essential in guiding the application of targeted therapies and preventing the evolution of therapeutic resistance. Discovery platforms are also needed to form new treatment strategies and identify novel antimicrobial agents. By applying engineering principles to molecular biology, synthetic biologists have developed platforms that improve upon, supplement, and will perhaps supplant traditional broad-spectrum antibiotics. Efforts in engineering bacteriophages and synthetic probiotics demonstrate targeted antimicrobial approaches that can be fine-tuned using synthetic biology-derived principles. Further, the development of paper-based, cell-free expression systems holds promise in promoting the clinical translation of molecular biology tools for diagnostic purposes. In this review, we highlight emerging synthetic biology platform technologies that are geared toward the generation of new antimicrobial therapies, diagnostics, and discovery channels. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Synthetic biology between technoscience and thing knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Gelfert, Axel

2013-06-01

Synthetic biology presents a challenge to traditional accounts of biology: Whereas traditional biology emphasizes the evolvability, variability, and heterogeneity of living organisms, synthetic biology envisions a future of homogeneous, humanly engineered biological systems that may be combined in modular fashion. The present paper approaches this challenge from the perspective of the epistemology of technoscience. In particular, it is argued that synthetic-biological artifacts lend themselves to an analysis in terms of what has been called 'thing knowledge'. As such, they should neither be regarded as the simple outcome of applying theoretical knowledge and engineering principles to specific technological problems, nor should they be treated as mere sources of new evidence in the general pursuit of scientific understanding. Instead, synthetic-biological artifacts should be viewed as partly autonomous research objects which, qua their material-biological constitution, embody knowledge about the natural world-knowledge that, in turn, can be accessed via continuous experimental interrogation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Data-driven approach for creating synthetic electronic medical records

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moniz Linda

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background New algorithms for disease outbreak detection are being developed to take advantage of full electronic medical records (EMRs that contain a wealth of patient information. However, due to privacy concerns, even anonymized EMRs cannot be shared among researchers, resulting in great difficulty in comparing the effectiveness of these algorithms. To bridge the gap between novel bio-surveillance algorithms operating on full EMRs and the lack of non-identifiable EMR data, a method for generating complete and synthetic EMRs was developed. Methods This paper describes a novel methodology for generating complete synthetic EMRs both for an outbreak illness of interest (tularemia and for background records. The method developed has three major steps: 1 synthetic patient identity and basic information generation; 2 identification of care patterns that the synthetic patients would receive based on the information present in real EMR data for similar health problems; 3 adaptation of these care patterns to the synthetic patient population. Results We generated EMRs, including visit records, clinical activity, laboratory orders/results and radiology orders/results for 203 synthetic tularemia outbreak patients. Validation of the records by a medical expert revealed problems in 19% of the records; these were subsequently corrected. We also generated background EMRs for over 3000 patients in the 4-11 yr age group. Validation of those records by a medical expert revealed problems in fewer than 3% of these background patient EMRs and the errors were subsequently rectified. Conclusions A data-driven method was developed for generating fully synthetic EMRs. The method is general and can be applied to any data set that has similar data elements (such as laboratory and radiology orders and results, clinical activity, prescription orders. The pilot synthetic outbreak records were for tularemia but our approach may be adapted to other infectious

Data-driven approach for creating synthetic electronic medical records.

Science.gov (United States)

Buczak, Anna L; Babin, Steven; Moniz, Linda

2010-10-14

New algorithms for disease outbreak detection are being developed to take advantage of full electronic medical records (EMRs) that contain a wealth of patient information. However, due to privacy concerns, even anonymized EMRs cannot be shared among researchers, resulting in great difficulty in comparing the effectiveness of these algorithms. To bridge the gap between novel bio-surveillance algorithms operating on full EMRs and the lack of non-identifiable EMR data, a method for generating complete and synthetic EMRs was developed. This paper describes a novel methodology for generating complete synthetic EMRs both for an outbreak illness of interest (tularemia) and for background records. The method developed has three major steps: 1) synthetic patient identity and basic information generation; 2) identification of care patterns that the synthetic patients would receive based on the information present in real EMR data for similar health problems; 3) adaptation of these care patterns to the synthetic patient population. We generated EMRs, including visit records, clinical activity, laboratory orders/results and radiology orders/results for 203 synthetic tularemia outbreak patients. Validation of the records by a medical expert revealed problems in 19% of the records; these were subsequently corrected. We also generated background EMRs for over 3000 patients in the 4-11 yr age group. Validation of those records by a medical expert revealed problems in fewer than 3% of these background patient EMRs and the errors were subsequently rectified. A data-driven method was developed for generating fully synthetic EMRs. The method is general and can be applied to any data set that has similar data elements (such as laboratory and radiology orders and results, clinical activity, prescription orders). The pilot synthetic outbreak records were for tularemia but our approach may be adapted to other infectious diseases. The pilot synthetic background records were in the 4

Second-Order Biomimicry: In Situ Oxidative Self-Processing Converts Copper(I)/Diamine Precursor into a Highly Active Aerobic Oxidation Catalyst.

Science.gov (United States)

McCann, Scott D; Lumb, Jean-Philip; Arndtsen, Bruce A; Stahl, Shannon S

2017-04-26

A homogeneous Cu-based catalyst system consisting of [Cu(MeCN) 4 ]PF 6 , N , N '-di- tert -butylethylenediamine (DBED), and p -( N , N -dimethylamino)pyridine (DMAP) mediates efficient aerobic oxidation of alcohols. Mechanistic study of this reaction shows that the catalyst undergoes an in situ oxidative self-processing step, resulting in conversion of DBED into a nitroxyl that serves as an efficient cocatalyst for aerobic alcohol oxidation. Insights into this behavior are gained from kinetic studies, which reveal an induction period at the beginning of the reaction that correlates with the oxidative self-processing step, EPR spectroscopic analysis of the catalytic reaction mixture, which shows the buildup of the organic nitroxyl species during steady state turnover, and independent synthesis of oxygenated DBED derivatives, which are shown to serve as effective cocatalysts and eliminate the induction period in the reaction. The overall mechanism bears considerable resemblance to enzymatic reactivity. Most notable is the "oxygenase"-type self-processing step that mirrors generation of catalytic cofactors in enzymes via post-translational modification of amino acid side chains. This higher-order function within a synthetic catalyst system presents new opportunities for the discovery and development of biomimetic catalysts.

Oxidative stability of fatty acid alkyl esters: a review.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michal Angelovič

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to investigate and to process the current literary knowledge of the physico-chemical properties of vegetable oil raw used for biodiesel production in terms of its qualitative stability. An object of investigation was oxidative stability of biodiesel. In the study, we focused on the qualitative physico-chemical properties of vegetable oils used for biodiesel production, oxidative degradation and its mechanisms, oxidation of lipids, mechanisms of autooxidation, effectivennes of different synthetic antioxidants in relation to oxidative stability of biodiesel and methods of oxidative stability determination. Knowledge of the physical and chemical properties of vegetable oil as raw material and the factors affecting these properties is critical for the production of quality biodiesel and its sustainability. According to the source of oilseed, variations in the chemical composition of the vegetable oil are expressed by variations in the molar ratio among different fatty acids in the structure. The relative ratio of fatty acids present in the raw material is kept relatively constant after the transesterification reaction. The quality of biodiesel physico-chemical properties is influenced by the chain length and the level of unsaturation of the produced fatty acid alkyl esters. A biodiesel is thermodynamically stable. Its instability primarily occurs from contact of oxygen present in the ambient air that is referred to as oxidative instability. For biodiesel is oxidation stability a general term. It is necessary to distinguish ‘storage stability' and ‘thermal stability', in relation to oxidative degradation, which may occur during extended periods of storage, transportation and end use. Fuel instability problems can be of two related types, short-term oxidative instability and long-term storage instability. Storage instability is defined in terms of solid formation, which can plug nozzles, filters, and degrade engine

Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Opioids Drug Overdose Deaths

Science.gov (United States)

... Alcohol Club Drugs Cocaine Fentanyl Hallucinogens Inhalants Heroin Marijuana MDMA (Ecstasy/Molly) Methamphetamine Opioids Over-the-Counter Medicines Prescription Medicines Steroids (Anabolic) Synthetic Cannabinoids (K2/Spice) Synthetic Cathinones (Bath Salts) Tobacco/ ...

Investigation of NOx Reduction by Low Temperature Oxidation Using Ozone Produced by Dielectric Barrier Discharge

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stamate, Eugen; Irimiea, Cornelia; Salewski, Mirko

2013-01-01

NOx reduction by low temperature oxidation using ozone produced by a dielectric barrier discharge generator is investigated for different process parameters in a 6m long reactor in serpentine arrangement using synthetic dry flue gas with NOx levels below 500 ppm, flows up to 50 slm and temperatures...

Synthetic Biology: game changer in intelectual property

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laurens Landeweerd

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Synthetic biology can be considered a game changer that plays an important role in the current NBIC, or BINC convergence of nano-, bio-, info and cognitive sciences. Although most synthetic biology experts are unaware of it, the field appeals to the imagination in its adherence to targets that were usually associated with premodern alchemist science. This paper elaborates several aspects of synthetic biology as well as its consequences for long held notions of intellectual property and the ontological categories of scientific discovery on the one hand and engineering on the other, the distinction between natural and artificial, the grown and the made.

Synthetic analog computation in living cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Daniel, Ramiz; Rubens, Jacob R; Sarpeshkar, Rahul; Lu, Timothy K

2013-05-30

A central goal of synthetic biology is to achieve multi-signal integration and processing in living cells for diagnostic, therapeutic and biotechnology applications. Digital logic has been used to build small-scale circuits, but other frameworks may be needed for efficient computation in the resource-limited environments of cells. Here we demonstrate that synthetic analog gene circuits can be engineered to execute sophisticated computational functions in living cells using just three transcription factors. Such synthetic analog gene circuits exploit feedback to implement logarithmically linear sensing, addition, ratiometric and power-law computations. The circuits exhibit Weber's law behaviour as in natural biological systems, operate over a wide dynamic range of up to four orders of magnitude and can be designed to have tunable transfer functions. Our circuits can be composed to implement higher-order functions that are well described by both intricate biochemical models and simple mathematical functions. By exploiting analog building-block functions that are already naturally present in cells, this approach efficiently implements arithmetic operations and complex functions in the logarithmic domain. Such circuits may lead to new applications for synthetic biology and biotechnology that require complex computations with limited parts, need wide-dynamic-range biosensing or would benefit from the fine control of gene expression.

Effect of graphene oxide on structure and properties of impact-modified polyamide 6

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Kelnar, Ivan; Kratochvíl, Jaroslav; Kaprálková, Ludmila; Špitálsky, Z.; Ujčić, Massimo; Zhigunov, Alexander; Nevoralová, Martina

2018-01-01

Roč. 57, č. 9 (2018), s. 827-835 ISSN 0360-2559 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA16-03194S Institutional support: RVO:61389013 Keywords : graphene oxide * morphology * polyamide 6 Subject RIV: JI - Composite Materials OBOR OECD: Composites (including laminates, reinforced plastics, cermets, combined natural and synthetic fibre fabrics Impact factor: 1.232, year: 2016

Preparation standardisation and use of plutonium nitrate reference solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, M.L.; Drummond, J.L.

1981-07-01

A procedure is described for the purification of a plutonium nitrate solution in nitric acid for use as a plutonium master standard. Anion exchange chromatography followed by oxalate precipitation is used to purify the plutonium and the residual cationic impurities are analysed by emission spectroscopy. The plutonium content is accurately and precisely measured by two independent methods, namely by gravimetry as PuO 2 at 1250 0 C and by ceric oxidation, ferrous reduction and dichromate titration. Full details of the purification procedure are given, with recommended methods for storing and using the standard solution. It is concluded that such a solution is the most satisfactory reference material, available for plutonium analysis for reprocessing plants, and is adequately related to other, internationally accepted, standard reference materials. (author)

Clinical validation of synthetic brain MRI in children: initial experience

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

West, Hollie; Leach, James L.; Jones, Blaise V.; Care, Marguerite; Radhakrishnan, Rupa; Merrow, Arnold C.; Alvarado, Enrique; Serai, Suraj D. [Cincinnati Children' s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Radiology, Cincinnati, OH (United States)

2017-01-15

The purpose of this study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of synthetic MR sequences generated through post-acquisition processing of a single sequence measuring inherent R1, R2, and PD tissue properties compared with sequences acquired conventionally as part of a routine clinical pediatric brain MR exam. Thirty-two patients underwent routine clinical brain MRI with conventional and synthetic sequences acquired (22 abnormal). Synthetic axial T1, T2, and T2 fluid attenuation inversion recovery or proton density-weighted sequences were made to match the comparable clinical sequences. Two exams for each patient were de-identified. Four blinded reviewers reviewed eight patients and were asked to generate clinical reports on each exam (synthetic or conventional) at two different time points separated by a mean of 33 days. Exams were rated for overall and specific finding agreement (synthetic/conventional and compared to gold standard consensus review by two senior reviewers with knowledge of clinical report), quality, and diagnostic confidence. Overall agreement between conventional and synthetic exams was 97%. Agreement with consensus readings was 84% (conventional) and 81% (synthetic), p = 0.61. There were no significant differences in sensitivity, specificity, or accuracy for specific imaging findings involving the ventricles, CSF, brain parenchyma, or vasculature between synthetic or conventional exams (p > 0.05). No significant difference in exam quality, diagnostic confidence, or noise/artifacts was noted comparing studies with synthetic or conventional sequences. Diagnostic accuracy and quality of synthetically generated sequences are comparable to conventionally acquired sequences as part of a standard pediatric brain exam. Further confirmation in a larger study is warranted. (orig.)

Clinical validation of synthetic brain MRI in children: initial experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

West, Hollie; Leach, James L.; Jones, Blaise V.; Care, Marguerite; Radhakrishnan, Rupa; Merrow, Arnold C.; Alvarado, Enrique; Serai, Suraj D.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of synthetic MR sequences generated through post-acquisition processing of a single sequence measuring inherent R1, R2, and PD tissue properties compared with sequences acquired conventionally as part of a routine clinical pediatric brain MR exam. Thirty-two patients underwent routine clinical brain MRI with conventional and synthetic sequences acquired (22 abnormal). Synthetic axial T1, T2, and T2 fluid attenuation inversion recovery or proton density-weighted sequences were made to match the comparable clinical sequences. Two exams for each patient were de-identified. Four blinded reviewers reviewed eight patients and were asked to generate clinical reports on each exam (synthetic or conventional) at two different time points separated by a mean of 33 days. Exams were rated for overall and specific finding agreement (synthetic/conventional and compared to gold standard consensus review by two senior reviewers with knowledge of clinical report), quality, and diagnostic confidence. Overall agreement between conventional and synthetic exams was 97%. Agreement with consensus readings was 84% (conventional) and 81% (synthetic), p = 0.61. There were no significant differences in sensitivity, specificity, or accuracy for specific imaging findings involving the ventricles, CSF, brain parenchyma, or vasculature between synthetic or conventional exams (p > 0.05). No significant difference in exam quality, diagnostic confidence, or noise/artifacts was noted comparing studies with synthetic or conventional sequences. Diagnostic accuracy and quality of synthetically generated sequences are comparable to conventionally acquired sequences as part of a standard pediatric brain exam. Further confirmation in a larger study is warranted. (orig.)

SCScore: Synthetic Complexity Learned from a Reaction Corpus.

Science.gov (United States)

Coley, Connor W; Rogers, Luke; Green, William H; Jensen, Klavs F

2018-02-26

Several definitions of molecular complexity exist to facilitate prioritization of lead compounds, to identify diversity-inducing and complexifying reactions, and to guide retrosynthetic searches. In this work, we focus on synthetic complexity and reformalize its definition to correlate with the expected number of reaction steps required to produce a target molecule, with implicit knowledge about what compounds are reasonable starting materials. We train a neural network model on 12 million reactions from the Reaxys database to impose a pairwise inequality constraint enforcing the premise of this definition: that on average, the products of published chemical reactions should be more synthetically complex than their corresponding reactants. The learned metric (SCScore) exhibits highly desirable nonlinear behavior, particularly in recognizing increases in synthetic complexity throughout a number of linear synthetic routes.

Synthetic attractants for Anastrepha fruit flies in Mexico

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gomez-Simuta, Y; Flores-Breceda, S; Lppez-Munoz, L [Subdireccion de Desarrollo de Metodos, Programa Moscamed, Tapachula, Chiapas (Mexico)

2007-10-15

The efficacy of synthetic attractants in the capture of Anastrepha fruit flies (Anastrepha ludens, A. obliqua and A. serpentina) was tested in three commercial orchards of known fruit fly hosts: mango (Mangifera indica L.), mammy (Calocarpum mammosum L.) and Mexican plum (Spondias purpurea L.) in Chiapas, Mexico. Among the synthetic attractants tested, we found that Ammonium Acetate (AA) plus Putrescine (PT) in a liquid trap was often the best combination for attracting flies. Interestingly, the reduction of release rate of AA increases the capture of fruit flies. We also found that Ammonium Bicarbonate (AB) plus PT in a wet trap was effective in a Mexican plum orchard in comparison with the other combinations of synthetic attractants. However, the synthetic attractants in dry traps were not effective and always presented the lowest Captures. (author)

Microwave based synthesis and spectral characterization of thermo-sensitive poly(N,N-diethylacrylamide) grafted pectin copolymer.

Science.gov (United States)

Işıklan, Nuran; Tokmak, Şeyma

2018-07-01

The functionalization of polysaccharides with synthetic polymers has attracted great attention owing to its application in many industrial fields. The aim of this work was to study the impact of pectin functionalization with N,N-diethylacrylamide (DEAAm). Pectin was modified via microwave-induced graft copolymerization of DEAAm using ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN) and N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine (TEMED). FTIR, 13 C NMR, DSC/TGA, XRD, and SEM techniques were used to verify the structure of graft copolymers. Various reaction conditions such as microwave irradiation time, temperature, microwave power, monomer, initiator, and TEMED concentrations were investigated to get a maximum grafting yield of 192%. Lower critical solution temperatures (LCST) of graft copolymers were determined by UV spectroscopy. Graft copolymers were found to be thermo-sensitive, with LCST of 31°C and high thermal resistance. Biocompatibility test of copolymers showed that copolymers were not cytotoxic to L929 fibroblasts cells and can be used as a biomaterial. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Synthetic biology and its promises

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Manuel De Cózar Escalante

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Synthetic biology is a new science and emerging technology, or rather a technoscience, which converges with others such as nanotechnology, information technology, robotics, artificial intelligence and neuroscience. All have common features that could have highly concerning social and environmental impacts. With its ambitious goals of controlling complexity, redesigning and creating new living entities, synthetic biology perfectly exemplifies the new bioeconomic reality. This requires expanding the focus of the discussion beyond the limited comparative analysis of risks and benefits, to address uncertainties, reassign responsibilities and initiate a thorough social assessment of what is at stake.

A non-diazo approach to α-oxo gold carbenes via gold-catalyzed alkyne oxidation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Liming

2014-03-18

For the past dozen years, homogeneous gold catalysis has evolved from a little known topic in organic synthesis to a fully blown research field of significant importance to synthetic practitioners, due to its novel reactivities and reaction modes. Cationic gold(I) complexes are powerful soft Lewis acids that can activate alkynes and allenes toward efficient attack by nucleophiles, leading to the generation of alkenyl gold intermediates. Some of the most versatile aspects of gold catalysis involve the generation of gold carbene intermediates, which occurs through the approach of an electrophile to the distal end of the alkenyl gold moiety, and their diverse transformations thereafter. On the other hand, α-oxo metal carbene/carbenoids are highly versatile intermediates in organic synthesis and can undergo various synthetically challenging yet highly valuable transformations such as C-H insertion, ylide formation, and cyclopropanation reactions. Metal-catalyzed dediazotizations of diazo carbonyl compounds are the principle and most reliable strategy to access them. Unfortunately, the substrates contain a highly energetic diazo moiety and are potentially explosive. Moreover, chemists need to use energetic reagents to prepare them, putting further constrains on operational safety. In this Account, we show that the unique access to the gold carbene species in homogeneous gold catalysis offers an opportunity to generate α-oxo gold carbenes if both nucleophile and electrophile are oxygen. Hence, this approach would enable readily available and safer alkynes to replace hazardous α-diazo carbonyl compounds as precursors in the realm of gold carbene chemistry. For the past several years, we have demonstrated that alkynes can indeed effectively serve as precursors to versatile α-oxo gold carbenes. In our initial study, we showed that a tethered sulfoxide can be a suitable oxidant, which in some cases leads to the formation of α-oxo gold carbene intermediates. The

A Non-Diazo Approach to α-Oxo Gold Carbenes via Gold-Catalyzed Alkyne Oxidation

Science.gov (United States)

2015-01-01

For the past dozen years, homogeneous gold catalysis has evolved from a little known topic in organic synthesis to a fully blown research field of significant importance to synthetic practitioners, due to its novel reactivities and reaction modes. Cationic gold(I) complexes are powerful soft Lewis acids that can activate alkynes and allenes toward efficient attack by nucleophiles, leading to the generation of alkenyl gold intermediates. Some of the most versatile aspects of gold catalysis involve the generation of gold carbene intermediates, which occurs through the approach of an electrophile to the distal end of the alkenyl gold moiety, and their diverse transformations thereafter. On the other hand, α-oxo metal carbene/carbenoids are highly versatile intermediates in organic synthesis and can undergo various synthetically challenging yet highly valuable transformations such as C–H insertion, ylide formation, and cyclopropanation reactions. Metal-catalyzed dediazotizations of diazo carbonyl compounds are the principle and most reliable strategy to access them. Unfortunately, the substrates contain a highly energetic diazo moiety and are potentially explosive. Moreover, chemists need to use energetic reagents to prepare them, putting further constrains on operational safety. In this Account, we show that the unique access to the gold carbene species in homogeneous gold catalysis offers an opportunity to generate α-oxo gold carbenes if both nucleophile and electrophile are oxygen. Hence, this approach would enable readily available and safer alkynes to replace hazardous α-diazo carbonyl compounds as precursors in the realm of gold carbene chemistry. For the past several years, we have demonstrated that alkynes can indeed effectively serve as precursors to versatile α-oxo gold carbenes. In our initial study, we showed that a tethered sulfoxide can be a suitable oxidant, which in some cases leads to the formation of α-oxo gold carbene intermediates. The

A synthetic superoxide dismutase/catalase mimetic EUK-207 mitigates radiation dermatitis and promotes wound healing in irradiated rat skin.

Science.gov (United States)

Doctrow, Susan R; Lopez, Argelia; Schock, Ashley M; Duncan, Nathan E; Jourdan, Megan M; Olasz, Edit B; Moulder, John E; Fish, Brian L; Mäder, Marylou; Lazar, Jozef; Lazarova, Zelmira

2013-04-01

In the event of a radionuclear attack or nuclear accident, the skin would be the first barrier exposed to radiation, though skin injury can progress over days to years following exposure. Chronic oxidative stress has been implicated as being a potential contributor to the progression of delayed radiation-induced injury to skin and other organs. To examine the causative role of oxidative stress in delayed radiation-induced skin injury, including impaired wound healing, we tested a synthetic superoxide dismutase (SOD)/catalase mimetic, EUK-207, in a rat model of combined skin irradiation and wound injury. Administered systemically, beginning 48 hours after irradiation, EUK-207 mitigated radiation dermatitis, suppressed indicators of tissue oxidative stress, and enhanced wound healing. Evaluation of gene expression in irradiated skin at 30 days after exposure revealed a significant upregulation of several key genes involved in detoxication of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. This gene expression pattern was primarily reversed by EUK-207 therapy. These results demonstrate that oxidative stress has a critical role in the progression of radiation-induced skin injury, and that the injury can be mitigated by appropriate antioxidant compounds administered 48 hours after exposure.

Time-frequency analysis of submerged synthetic jet

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Abhay; Saha, Arun K.; Panigrahi, P. K.

2017-12-01

The coherent structures transport the finite body of fluid mass through rolling which plays an important role in heat transfer, boundary layer control, mixing, cooling, propulsion and other engineering applications. A synthetic jet in the form of a train of vortex rings having coherent structures of different length scales is expected to be useful in these applications. The propagation and sustainability of these coherent structures (vortex rings) in downstream direction characterize the performance of synthetic jet. In the present study, the velocity signal acquired using the S-type hot-film probe along the synthetic jet centerline has been taken for the spectral analysis. One circular and three rectangular orifices of aspect ratio 1, 2 and 4 actuating at 1, 6 and 18 Hz frequency have been used for creating different synthetic jets. The laser induced fluorescence images are used to study the flow structures qualitatively and help in explaining the velocity signal for detection of coherent structures. The study depicts four regions as vortex rollup and suction region (X/D h ≤ 3), steadily translating region (X/D h ≤ 3-8), vortex breakup region (X/Dh ≤ 4-8) and dissipation of small-scale vortices (X/D h ≤ 8-15). The presence of coherent structures localized in physical and temporal domain is analyzed for the characterization of synthetic jet. Due to pulsatile nature of synthetic jet, analysis of velocity time trace or signal in time, frequency and combined time-frequency domain assist in characterizing the signatures of coherent structures. It has been observed that the maximum energy is in the first harmonic of actuation frequency, which decreases slowly in downstream direction at 6 Hz compared to 1 and 18 Hz of actuation.

Synthetic biology for microbial heavy metal biosensors.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Hyun Ju; Jeong, Haeyoung; Lee, Sang Jun

2018-02-01

Using recombinant DNA technology, various whole-cell biosensors have been developed for detection of environmental pollutants, including heavy metal ions. Whole-cell biosensors have several advantages: easy and inexpensive cultivation, multiple assays, and no requirement of any special techniques for analysis. In the era of synthetic biology, cutting-edge DNA sequencing and gene synthesis technologies have accelerated the development of cell-based biosensors. Here, we summarize current technological advances in whole-cell heavy metal biosensors, including the synthetic biological components (bioparts), sensing and reporter modules, genetic circuits, and chassis cells. We discuss several opportunities for improvement of synthetic cell-based biosensors. First, new functional modules must be discovered in genome databases, and this knowledge must be used to upgrade specific bioparts through molecular engineering. Second, modules must be assembled into functional biosystems in chassis cells. Third, heterogeneity of individual cells in the microbial population must be eliminated. In the perspectives, the development of whole-cell biosensors is also discussed in the aspects of cultivation methods and synthetic cells.

Yeast synthetic biology toolbox and applications for biofuel production.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Ching-Sung; Kwak, Suryang; Turner, Timothy L; Jin, Yong-Su

2015-02-01

Yeasts are efficient biofuel producers with numerous advantages outcompeting bacterial counterparts. While most synthetic biology tools have been developed and customized for bacteria especially for Escherichia coli, yeast synthetic biological tools have been exploited for improving yeast to produce fuels and chemicals from renewable biomass. Here we review the current status of synthetic biological tools and their applications for biofuel production, focusing on the model strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae We describe assembly techniques that have been developed for constructing genes, pathways, and genomes in yeast. Moreover, we discuss synthetic parts for allowing precise control of gene expression at both transcriptional and translational levels. Applications of these synthetic biological approaches have led to identification of effective gene targets that are responsible for desirable traits, such as cellulosic sugar utilization, advanced biofuel production, and enhanced tolerance against toxic products for biofuel production from renewable biomass. Although an array of synthetic biology tools and devices are available, we observed some gaps existing in tool development to achieve industrial utilization. Looking forward, future tool development should focus on industrial cultivation conditions utilizing industrial strains. © FEMS 2015. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permission@oup.com.

Queueing-Based Synchronization and Entrainment for Synthetic Gene Oscillators

Science.gov (United States)

Mather, William; Butzin, Nicholas; Hochendoner, Philip; Ogle, Curtis

Synthetic gene oscillators have been a major focus of synthetic biology research since the beginning of the field 15 years ago. They have proven to be useful both for biotechnological applications as well as a testing ground to significantly develop our understanding of the design principles behind synthetic and native gene oscillators. In particular, the principles governing synchronization and entrainment of biological oscillators have been explored using a synthetic biology approach. Our work combines experimental and theoretical approaches to specifically investigate how a bottleneck for protein degradation, which is present in most if not all existing synthetic oscillators, can be leveraged to robustly synchronize and entrain biological oscillators. We use both the terminology and mathematical tools of queueing theory to intuitively explain the role of this bottleneck in both synchronization and entrainment, which extends prior work demonstrating the usefulness of queueing theory in synthetic and native gene circuits. We conclude with an investigation of how synchronization and entrainment may be sensitive to the presence of multiple proteolytic pathways in a cell that couple weakly through crosstalk. This work was supported by NSF Grant #1330180.

CSBB: synthetic biology research at Newcastle University.

Science.gov (United States)

Goñi-Moreno, Angel; Wipat, Anil; Krasnogor, Natalio

2017-06-15

The Centre for Synthetic Biology and the Bioeconomy (CSBB) brings together a far-reaching multidisciplinary community across all Newcastle University's faculties - Medical Sciences, Science, Agriculture and Engineering, and Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. The CSBB focuses on many different areas of Synthetic Biology, including bioprocessing, computational design and in vivo computation, as well as improving understanding of basic molecular machinery. Such breadth is supported by major national and international research funding, a range of industrial partners in the North East of England and beyond, as well as a large number of doctoral and post-doctoral researchers. The CSBB trains the next generation of scientists through a 1-year MSc in Synthetic Biology. © 2017 The Author(s).

Effect of the structure of commercial poly(ethylene oxide-b-propylene oxide) demulsifier bases on the demulsification of water-in-crude oil emulsions: elucidation of the demulsification mechanism

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ramalho, Joao Batista V.S. [PETROBRAS S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Centro de Pesquisas; Lechuga, Fernanda C.; Lucas, Elizabete F., E-mail: elucas@ima.ufrj.b [Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), RJ (Brazil). Inst. de Macromoleculas Profa. Eloisa Mano

2010-07-01

Water-in-crude oil emulsions are formed during petroleum production and asphaltenes play an important role in their stabilization. Demulsifiers are added to destabilize such emulsions,however the demulsification mechanism is not completely known. In this paper, the performances of commercial poly(ethylene oxide-b-propylene oxide) demulsifiers were studied using synthetic water-in-oil emulsions and model-systems (asphaltenes in organic solvent). No change in the asphaltene aggregate size induced by the demulsifier was observed. The demulsification performance decreased as the asphaltene aggregate size increased, so it can be suggested that the demulsification mechanism is correlated to the voids between the aggregates adsorbed on the water droplets surface. (author)

Effect of the structure of commercial poly(ethylene oxide-b-propylene oxide) demulsifier bases on the demulsification of water-in-crude oil emulsions: elucidation of the demulsification mechanism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramalho, Joao Batista V.S.; Lechuga, Fernanda C.; Lucas, Elizabete F.

2010-01-01

Water-in-crude oil emulsions are formed during petroleum production and asphaltenes play an important role in their stabilization. Demulsifiers are added to destabilize such emulsions,however the demulsification mechanism is not completely known. In this paper, the performances of commercial poly(ethylene oxide-b-propylene oxide) demulsifiers were studied using synthetic water-in-oil emulsions and model-systems (asphaltenes in organic solvent). No change in the asphaltene aggregate size induced by the demulsifier was observed. The demulsification performance decreased as the asphaltene aggregate size increased, so it can be suggested that the demulsification mechanism is correlated to the voids between the aggregates adsorbed on the water droplets surface. (author)

Image quality at synthetic brain magnetic resonance imaging in children

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, So Mi; Cho, Seung Hyun; Kim, Won Hwa; Kim, Hye Jung [Kyungpook National University Hospital, Department of Radiology, Daegu (Korea, Republic of); Choi, Young Hun; Cheon, Jung-Eun; Kim, In-One [Seoul National University College of Medicine, Department of Radiology and Institute of Radiation Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Cho, Hyun-Hae [Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, Department of Radiology, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); You, Sun-Kyoung [Chungnam National University Hospital, Department of Radiology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Park, Sook-Hyun [Kyungpook National University Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, Daegu (Korea, Republic of); Hwang, Moon Jung [GE Healthcare, MR Applications and Workflow, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2017-11-15

The clinical application of the multi-echo, multi-delay technique of synthetic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) generates multiple sequences in a single acquisition but has mainly been used in adults. To evaluate the image quality of synthetic brain MR in children compared with that of conventional images. Twenty-nine children (median age: 6 years, range: 0-16 years) underwent synthetic and conventional imaging. Synthetic (T2-weighted, T1-weighted and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery [FLAIR]) images with settings matching those of the conventional images were generated. The overall image quality, gray/white matter differentiation, lesion conspicuity and image degradations were rated on a 5-point scale. The relative contrasts were assessed quantitatively and acquisition times for the two imaging techniques were compared. Synthetic images were inferior due to more pronounced image degradations; however, there were no significant differences for T1- and T2-weighted images in children <2 years old. The quality of T1- and T2-weighted images were within the diagnostically acceptable range. FLAIR images showed greatly reduced quality. Gray/white matter differentiation was comparable or better in synthetic T1- and T2-weighted images, but poorer in FLAIR images. There was no effect on lesion conspicuity. Synthetic images had equal or greater relative contrast. Acquisition time was approximately two-thirds of that for conventional sequences. Synthetic T1- and T2-weighted images were diagnostically acceptable, but synthetic FLAIR images were not. Lesion conspicuity and gray/white matter differentiation were comparable to conventional MRI. (orig.)

Degradation and metabolism of synthetic plastics and associated products by Pseudomonas sp.: capabilities and challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkes, R A; Aristilde, L

2017-09-01

Synthetic plastics, which are widely present in materials of everyday use, are ubiquitous and slowly-degrading polymers in environmental wastes. Of special interest are the capabilities of microorganisms to accelerate their degradation. Members of the metabolically diverse genus Pseudomonas are of particular interest due to their capabilities to degrade and metabolize synthetic plastics. Pseudomonas species isolated from environmental matrices have been identified to degrade polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene succinate, polyethylene glycol and polyvinyl alcohol at varying degrees of efficiency. Here, we present a review of the current knowledge on the factors that control the ability of Pseudomonas sp. to process these different plastic polymers and their by-products. These factors include cell surface attachment within biofilms, catalytic enzymes involved in oxidation or hydrolysis of the plastic polymer, metabolic pathways responsible for uptake and assimilation of plastic fragments and chemical factors that are advantageous or inhibitory to the biodegradation process. We also highlight future research directions required in order to harness fully the capabilities of Pseudomonas sp. in bioremediation strategies towards eliminating plastic wastes. © 2017 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

Varieties of noise: analogical reasoning in synthetic biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Knuuttila, Tarja; Loettgers, Andrea

2014-12-01

The picture of synthetic biology as a kind of engineering science has largely created the public understanding of this novel field, covering both its promises and risks. In this paper, we will argue that the actual situation is more nuanced and complex. Synthetic biology is a highly interdisciplinary field of research located at the interface of physics, chemistry, biology, and computational science. All of these fields provide concepts, metaphors, mathematical tools, and models, which are typically utilized by synthetic biologists by drawing analogies between the different fields of inquiry. We will study analogical reasoning in synthetic biology through the emergence of the functional meaning of noise, which marks an important shift in how engineering concepts are employed in this field. The notion of noise serves also to highlight the differences between the two branches of synthetic biology: the basic science-oriented branch and the engineering-oriented branch, which differ from each other in the way they draw analogies to various other fields of study. Moreover, we show that fixing the mapping between a source domain and the target domain seems not to be the goal of analogical reasoning in actual scientific practice.

Biologic Stress, Oxidative Stress, and Resistance to Drugs: What Is Hidden Behind

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Pantelidou

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Stress can be defined as the homeostatic, nonspecific defensive response of the organism to challenges. It is expressed by morphological, biochemical, and functional changes. In this review, we present biological and oxidative stress, as well as their interrelation. In addition to the mediation in biologic stress (central nervous, immune, and hormonal systems and oxidative stress, the effect of these phenomena on xenobiotic metabolism and drug response is also examined. It is concluded that stress decreases drug response, a result which seems to be mainly attributed to the induction of hepatic drug metabolizing enzymes. A number of mechanisms are presented. Structure-activity studies are also discussed. Vitamin E, as well as two synthetic novel compounds, seem to reduce both oxidative and biological stress and, consequently, influence drug response and metabolism.

Fungal Biodegradative Oxidants in Lignocellulose: Fluorescence Mapping and Correlation With Gene Expression

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hammel, Kenneth E. [Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States); Ralph, John [Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States); Hunt, Christopher G. [U.S. Forest Products Lab., Madison, WI (United States); Houtman, Carl J. [U.S. Forest Products Lab., Madison, WI (United States)

2016-09-06

This work focused on new methods for the detection of oxidation in natural substrates during the deconstruction of lignocellulose by microoganisms. Oxidation was the focus because all known biological systems that degrade lignin are oxidative. The detection methods involved the used of (a) micrometer-scale beads carrying a fluorescent dye that is sensitive to oxidation, (b) 13C-labeled synthetic lignins whose breakdown products can be assessed using mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and (c) a fluorometric stain that is highly sensitive to incipient oxidation during microbial attack. The results showed (a) that one white rot fungus, Phanerochaete chrysosporium, produces diffusible oxidants on wood, and that the onset of oxidation is coincident with the marked up-regulation of genes that encode ligninolytic peroxidases and auxiliary oxidative enzymes; (b) that a more selectively ligninolytic white rot fungus, Ceriporiopsis subvermispora, produces a highly diastereoselective oxidative system for attack on lignin; (c) that a brown rot fungus, Serpula lacrymans, uses extracellular hydroquinone metabolites to drive the production of lignocellulose-oxidizing free radicals; (d) that both white rot and brown rot fungi produce highly diffusible mild oxidants that modify lignocellulose at the earliest stage of substrate deconstruction; and (e) that lignin degradation in a tropical soil is not inhibited as much as expected during periods of flooding-induced hypoxia, which indicates that unknown mechanisms for attack on lignin remain to be discovered.

Synthetic murataite-3C, a complex form for long-term immobilization of nuclear waste. Crystal structure and its comparison with natural analogues

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pakhomova, Anna S.; Krivovichev, Sergey V. [St. Petersburg State Univ. (Russian Federation). Dept. of Crystallography; Yudintsev, Sergey V. [Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy and Geochemistry, St. Petersburg (Russian Federation); Stefanovsky, Sergey V. [MosNPO Radon, Moscow (Russian Federation)

2013-03-01

The structure of synthetic murataite-3C intended for long-term immobilization of high-level radioactive waste has been solved using crystals prepared by melting in an electric furnace at 1500 C. The material is cubic, F- anti 43m, a = 14.676(15) A, V = 3161.31(57) A{sup 3}. The structure is based upon a three-dimensional framework consisting of {alpha}-Keggin [Al{sup [4]}Ti{sub 12}{sup [6]}O{sub 40}] clusters linked by sharing the O5 atoms. The Keggin-cluster-framework interpenetrates with the metal-oxide substructure that can be considered as a derivative of the fluorite structure. The crystal chemical formula of synthetic murataite-3C derived from the obtained structure model can be written as {sup [8]}Ca{sub 6}{sup [8]}Ca{sub 4}{sup [6]}Ti{sub 12}{sup [5]}Ti{sub 4}{sup [4]}AlO{sub 42}. Its comparison with the natural murataite shows that the synthetic material has a noticeably less number of vacancies in the cation substructure and contains five instead of four symmetrically independent cation positions. The presence of the additional site essentially increases the capacity of synthetic murataite with respect to large heavy cations such as actinides, rare earth and alkaline earth metals in comparison with the material of natural origin. (orig.)

Kinetics of abiotic nitrous oxide production via oxidation of hydroxylamine by particulate metals in seawater

Science.gov (United States)

Cavazos, A. R.; Taillefert, M.; Glass, J. B.

2016-12-01

The oceans are a significant of nitrous oxide (N2O) to the atmosphere. Current models of global oceanic N2­O flux focus on microbial N2O cycling and often ignore abiotic reactions, such as the thermodynamically favorable oxidation of the nitrification intermediate hydroxylamine (NH2OH) by Mn(IV) or Fe(III). At circumneutral pH, NH2OH oxidation is more thermodynamically favorable via Mn(IV) than Fe(III) reduction. We characterized the kinetics of NH2OH oxidation in synthetic ocean water at pH 5.1-8.8 using microsensor electrodes to measure real-time N2O production. N2O production rates and yield were greater when NH2OH was oxidized by Mn(IV) than Fe(III). Accordingly, the reduction of Mn(IV) was first order with respect to NH2OH whereas the reduction of Fe(III) was zero order with respect to NH2OH. Interestingly, the order of the reaction with respect to Mn(IV) appears to be negative whereas the reaction is second order with respect to Fe(III). The inverse order with respect to Mn(IV) may be due to the aggregation of particles in seawater, which decreases their surface area and changes their reactivity. Finally, the reaction is first order with respect to protons with Fe(III) as the oxidant but zero order with Mn(IV). The stronger effect of the pH on the reaction with Fe(III) as the oxidant compared to Mn(IV) reflects the stoichiometry of these two reactions, as each mole of N2O produced by Fe(III) reduction consumes eight protons while each mole of N2O produced with Mn(IV) as the oxidant requires only four protons. Our data show that abiotic NH2OH oxidation by Mn(IV) or Fe(III) particles may represent a significant source of N2O in seawater. These findings suggest that abiotic N2O production in marine waters may be significant in areas of the oceans where particulate metals originating from aerosols, dust, or rivers may react with NH2OH released from ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms.

Rewiring protein synthesis: From natural to synthetic amino acids.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Yongqiang; Evans, Christopher R; Ling, Jiqiang

2017-11-01

The protein synthesis machinery uses 22 natural amino acids as building blocks that faithfully decode the genetic information. Such fidelity is controlled at multiple steps and can be compromised in nature and in the laboratory to rewire protein synthesis with natural and synthetic amino acids. This review summarizes the major quality control mechanisms during protein synthesis, including aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, elongation factors, and the ribosome. We will discuss evolution and engineering of such components that allow incorporation of natural and synthetic amino acids at positions that deviate from the standard genetic code. The protein synthesis machinery is highly selective, yet not fixed, for the correct amino acids that match the mRNA codons. Ambiguous translation of a codon with multiple amino acids or complete reassignment of a codon with a synthetic amino acid diversifies the proteome. Expanding the genetic code with synthetic amino acids through rewiring protein synthesis has broad applications in synthetic biology and chemical biology. Biochemical, structural, and genetic studies of the translational quality control mechanisms are not only crucial to understand the physiological role of translational fidelity and evolution of the genetic code, but also enable us to better design biological parts to expand the proteomes of synthetic organisms. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Biochemistry of Synthetic Biology - Recent Developments" Guest Editor: Dr. Ilka Heinemann and Dr. Patrick O'Donoghue. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Synthetic cathinones: a new public health problem.

Science.gov (United States)

Karila, Laurent; Megarbane, Bruno; Cottencin, Olivier; Lejoyeux, Michel

2015-01-01

New psychoactive substances (NPS) have completely modified the drug scene and the current landscape of addiction. Synthetic substances, such as substituted or synthetic cathinones, also known as « legal highs », are often produced and used to mimic the effects of controlled drugs such as cocaine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy), and methamphetamine. The overwhelming majority of synthetic cathinones are produced in China and South East Asian countries. The Internet has emerged as the new marketplace for NPS, playing a major role in providing information on acquisition, synthesis, extraction, identification, and substance use. All these compounds are intentionally mislabeled and sold on-line under slang terms such as bath salts, plant food, plant feeders and research chemicals. They are sometimes labeled « not for human use » or « not tested for hazards or toxicity ». The rapid spread of NPS forces member countries of the European Union to adapt their response to the potential new dangers that may cause. To date, not only health actors but also the general public need to be clearly informed and aware of dangers resulting from NPS spread and use. Here, we review the major clinical effects of synthetic cathinones to highlight their impact on public health. A literature search was conducted from 2009 to 2014 based on PubMed, Google Scholar, Erowid, and governmental websites, using the following keywords alone or in combination: "new psychoactive substances", "synthetic cathinones", "substituted cathinones", "mephedrone", "methylone", "MDPV", "4-MEC", "addiction", and "substance use disorder".

Hairy Graphenes: Wrapping Nanocellulose Nets around Graphene Oxide Sheets.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, Rui; Kim, Ho Shin; Korolovych, Volodymyr F; Zhang, Shuaidi; Yingling, Yaroslava; Tsukruk, Vladimir V

2018-04-17

Constructing advanced functional nanomaterials with pre-designed organized morphologies from low-dimension synthetic and biological components is extremely challenging because of complex inter-component interactions, high-aspect ratios, flexible shapes, crumpling instabilities and limited common wet-chemistry processing conditions. Herein, we report an efficient and universal amphiphilicity-driven assembly strategy to construct "hairy" flexible hybrid nanosheets with the net of 1D cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) conformally wrapped around 2D graphene oxide (GO) monolayers. This interface-driven bio-synthetic assembly is facilitated by variable amphiphilic interfacial balance via tailoring the surface chemistry of flexible GO sheets as controllably pre-oxidized 2D template cores, resulting in individual sheets tightly surrounded by dense conformal nanocellulose network. These nanocellulose-net wrapped GO nanosheets demonstrate extremely high compressive elastic modulus above 180 GPa due to the strong bonding between nanofibers and GO sheets and arrest of the buckling events. This unique mechanical stability far exceeds the compressive instability limits of both individual components, 1D cellulose nanofibers and 2D graphene monolayers. Additionally, the presence of CNF reinforced nanocellulose network significantly enhances the wetting ability of initial hydrophobic reduced GO nanosheets, enabling the long-term stability of CNFs-rGO dispersion and allowing fast water transport combined with high filtration efficiency for CNFs-rGO membranes. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Biosynthesis of reduced graphene oxide and its in-vitro cytotoxicity against cervical cancer (HeLa) cell lines.

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Lan; Xu, Lina; Zhao, Haibo

2017-09-01

The present work proposed a simple, one pot, and green approach for the deoxygenation of graphene oxide (GO) using pyrogallol as reducing and stabilizing agent. This synthetic strategy prevents the utilization of toxic reducing reagents during synthesis. The characterization results of Ultra violet visible (UV-Vis), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photo electron spectroscopy (XPS), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for the synthesized GO and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) indicated the strong removal of oxygen groups after reduction which followed by stabilization with oxidized form of pyrogallol. TEM analysis showed the thin transparent silk like sheets of graphene. FTIR analysis confirmed the stabilization of graphene sheets with oxidized pyrogallol molecules. XRD and XPS analysis represented the deoxygenation of GO to RGO. The in-vitro cytotoxicity of RGO towards HeLa cells is dose dependant. The prepared RGO also exhibited the percent cell viability of about 80% even at higher concentrations indicating the less toxic nature of the RGO stabilized with pyrogallol. These results have represented that this synthetic approach is effective for the preparation of bulk scale RGO in a simple, less expensive and eco-friendly method. Since this method avoids the use of chemical reagents that are toxic in nature, the produced graphene are likely to offer several potential biomedical applications. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Hydrogen speciation in synthetic quartz

Science.gov (United States)

Aines, R.D.; Kirby, S.H.; Rossman, G.R.

1984-01-01

The dominant hydrogen impurity in synthetic quartz is molecular H2O. H-OH groups also occur, but there is no direct evidence for the hydrolysis of Si-O-Si bonds to yield Si-OH HO-Si groups. Molecular H2O concentrations in the synthetic quartz crystals studied range from less than 10 to 3,300 ppm (H/Si), and decrease smoothly by up to an order of magnitude with distance away from the seed. OH- concentrations range from 96 to 715 ppm, and rise smoothly with distance away from the seed by up to a factor of three. The observed OH- is probably all associated with cationic impurities, as in natural quartz. Molecular H2O is the dominant initial hydrogen impurity in weak quartz. The hydrolytic weakening of quartz may be caused by the transformation H2O + Si-O-Si ??? 2SiOH, but this may be a transitory change with the SiOH groups recombining to form H2O, and the average SiOH concentration remaining very low. Synthetic quartz is strengthened when the H2O is accumulated into fluid inclusions and cannot react with the quartz framework. ?? 1984 Springer-Verlag.

Combustion synthesized indium-tin-oxide (ITO) thin film for source/drain electrodes in all solution-processed oxide thin-film transistors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tue, Phan Trong; Inoue, Satoshi; Takamura, Yuzuru; Shimoda, Tatsuya

2016-01-01

We report combustion solution synthesized (SCS) indium-tin-oxide (ITO) thin film, which is a well-known transparent conductive oxide, for source/drain (S/D) electrodes in solution-processed amorphous zirconium-indium-zinc-oxide TFT. A redox-based combustion synthetic approach is applied to ITO thin film using acetylacetone as a fuel and metal nitrate as oxidizer. The structural and electrical properties of SCS-ITO precursor solution and thin films were systematically investigated with changes in tin concentration, indium metal precursors, and annealing conditions such as temperature, time, and ambient. It was found that at optimal conditions the SCS-ITO thin film exhibited high crystalline quality, atomically smooth surface (RMS ∝ 4.1 Aa), and low electrical resistivity (4.2 x 10 -4 Ω cm). The TFT using SCS-ITO film as the S/D electrodes showed excellent electrical properties with negligible hysteresis. The obtained ''on/off'' current ratio, subthreshold swing factor, subthreshold voltage, and field-effect mobility were 5 x 10 7 , 0.43 V/decade, 0.7 V, and 2.1 cm 2 /V s, respectively. The performance and stability of the SCS-ITO TFT are comparable to those of the sputtered-ITO TFT, emphasizing that the SCS-ITO film is a promising candidate for totally solution-processed oxide TFTs. (orig.)

SYNTHETIC EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT – A FOOTPACE TO NEW EDUCATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga P. Pinchuk

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The article studies the problems of introducing a synthetic learning environment in the practice of education. The modern views on the essence of the learning environment and its new forms based on information and communication technologies are analyzed. Particular attention is paid to a range of issues that are united in the English-language publications as a "synthetic environment", which is considered in two aspects – artificial environment and synthetic as is formed due to the synthesis of the real physical world and the results of simulation and modeling. There are considered issues of trends in usage of game-based learning and modeling as cognitive technologies, as well as of social networks as a synthetic environment of social development. Conclusions are drawn: synthetic learning environment becomes an independent subject of learning through the expansion of its content and didactic power, transformation of the individual as a recipient of knowledge into the synthesizing element of the educational process in the metaverse.

Characterization of high speed synthetic jet actuators

Science.gov (United States)

Pikcilingis, Lucia

Over the last 20 years, synthetic jets have been studied as a means for aerodynamic active flow control. Specifically, synthetic jets provide momentum transfer with zero-net mass flux, which has been proven to be effective for controlling flow fields. A synthetic jet is created by the periodic formation of vortex rings at its orifice due to the periodic motion of a piezoelectric disk(s). The present study seeks to optimize the performance of a synthetic jet actuator by utilizing different geometrical parameters such as disk thickness, orifice width and length, cavity height and cavity diameter, and different input parameters such as driving voltage and frequency. Two apparatuses were used with a cavity diameter of either 80 mm or 160 mm. Piezoelectric-based disks were provided by the Mide Corporation. Experiments were conducted using several synthetic jet apparatuses designed for various geometrical parameters utilizing a dual disk configuration. Velocity and temperature measurements were acquired at the center of the synthetic jet orifice using a temperature compensated hotwire and thermocouple probe. The disk(s) displacement was measured at the center of the disk with a laser displacement sensor. It was shown that the synthetic jets, having the 80 mm cavity diameter, are capable of exceeding peak velocities of 200 m/s with a relatively large orifice of dimensions AR = 12, hc* = 3, and hn* = 4. In addition, the conditions at which the disks were manufactured had minimal effect on the performance of the jet, except for the pair with overnight resting time as opposed to less than an hour resting time for the control units. Altering the tab style of the disks, where the tab allows the electrical circuit to be exposed for external power connection, showed that a thin fragile tab versus a tab of the same thickness as the disk has minimal effect on the performance but affects the durability of the disk due to the fragility or robustness of the tab. The synthetic jets

Chemical communication between synthetic and natural cells: a possible experimental design.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Livia Leoni

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The bottom-up construction of synthetic cells is one of the most intriguing and interesting research arenas in synthetic biology. Synthetic cells are built by encapsulating biomolecules inside lipid vesicles (liposomes, allowing the synthesis of one or more functional proteins. Thanks to the in situ synthesized proteins, synthetic cells become able to perform several biomolecular functions, which can be exploited for a large variety of applications. This paves the way to several advanced uses of synthetic cells in basic science and biotechnology, thanks to their versatility, modularity, biocompatibility, and programmability. In the previous WIVACE (2012 we presented the state-of-the-art of semi-synthetic minimal cell (SSMC technology and introduced, for the first time, the idea of chemical communication between synthetic cells and natural cells. The development of a proper synthetic communication protocol should be seen as a tool for the nascent field of bio/chemical-based Information and Communication Technologies (bio-chem-ICTs and ultimately aimed at building soft-wet-micro-robots. In this contribution (WIVACE, 2013 we present a blueprint for realizing this project, and show some preliminary experimental results. We firstly discuss how our research goal (based on the natural capabilities of biological systems to manipulate chemical signals finds a proper place in the current scientific and technological contexts. Then, we shortly comment on the experimental approaches from the viewpoints of (i synthetic cell construction, and (ii bioengineering of microorganisms, providing up-to-date results from our laboratory. Finally, we shortly discuss how autopoiesis can be used as a theoretical framework for defining synthetic minimal life, minimal cognition, and as bridge between synthetic biology and artificial intelligence.

Synthetic Phage for Tissue Regeneration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

So Young Yoo

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Controlling structural organization and signaling motif display is of great importance to design the functional tissue regenerating materials. Synthetic phage, genetically engineered M13 bacteriophage has been recently introduced as novel tissue regeneration materials to display a high density of cell-signaling peptides on their major coat proteins for tissue regeneration purposes. Structural advantages of their long-rod shape and monodispersity can be taken together to construct nanofibrous scaffolds which support cell proliferation and differentiation as well as direct orientation of their growth in two or three dimensions. This review demonstrated how functional synthetic phage is designed and subsequently utilized for tissue regeneration that offers potential cell therapy.

Synthetic lubricating oils

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rodriguez Jurado, J

1953-01-01

A yellow solid petroleum paraffin d/sup 60/ 0.808, I number 3.5, average molecular weight 350, chlorinated and condensed with benzene, xylene, or naphthalene by the Friedel and Crafts reaction, in the presence of anhydrous AlCl/sub 3/ or activated Al, gave synthetic lubricating oils. Xylene was the preferred aromatic compound, naphthalene required the use of less completely chlorinated paraffin, benzene produced resins difficult to remove and gave darker oils with excessive green fluorescence. Activated Al rather than anhydrous AlCl/sub 3/ gave darker oils with higher viscosity and Conradson C values. Tar from the low-temperature distillation of lignite, used as a source of a paraffin fraction melting 40/sup 0/ to 48/sup 0/ (chlorinated to 26.5 percent Cl) and an aromatic fraction, 45 percent aromatic compounds by volume (mainly polysubstituted benzenes), I number 10, was converted to a similar synthetic lubricant with the following properties: Kinematic viscosity at 210/sup 0/ F., 50.4 centistokes; viscosity index, 92; Conradson C, 1.5 percent; solidification point, 9/sup 0/; S, 0.41 percent.

Purifying synthetic or fermentation ethyl alcohol

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1958-10-22

Synthetic or fermentation grade ethanol is treated with an alkaki metal sulfite for about 10 hours then rectified to give a product free of odor and taste defects. For example, ethanol from molasses was treated with 10g Na/sub 2/SO/sub 3/.7H/sub 2/O per liter of alcohol, (70/sup 0/ Gay-Lussac) for 10 hours. Synthetic ethanol was treated with 3g Na/sub 2/SO/sub 3/.7H/sub 2/O for 10 hours.

Purifying synthetic or fermentation ethyl alcohol

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1958-10-22

Synthetic or fermentation grade ethanol is treated with an alkali metal sulfite for about 10 hours then rectified to give a product free of odor and taste defects. For example, ethanol from molasses was treated with 10g, Na/sub 2/SO/sub 3/.7H/sub 2/0 per liter of alcohol, (70/sup 0/ Gay-Lussac) for 10 hours. Synthetic ethanol was treated with 3 g Na/sub 2/SO/sub 3/.7H/sub 2/O for 10 hours.

Biomimetic Syntheses of Callistrilones A-E via an Oxidative [3 + 2] Cycloaddition.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Yonghong; Zhang, Yuhan; Xiao, Mingxing; Xie, Zhixiang

2018-04-16

Concise total syntheses of callistrilones A-E have been achieved from 7 and commercially available α-phellandrene (8). The synthetic strategy, which was primarily inspired by the biogenetic hypothesis, was enabled by an oxidative [3 + 2] cycloaddition followed by a Michael addition and an intramolecular nucleophilic addition to construct the target molecules. Moreover, viminalin I was also synthesized, and its absolute configuration was unambiguously confirmed.

Misconceptions of Synthetic Biology: Lessons from an Interdisciplinary Summer School

Science.gov (United States)

Verseux, Cyprien; Acevedo-Rocha, Carlos G.; Chizzolini, Fabio; Rothschild, Lynn J.

2016-01-01

In 2014, an international group of scholars from various fields analysed the "societal dimensions" of synthetic biology in an interdisciplinary summer school. Here, we report and discuss the biologists' observations on the general perception of synthetic biology by non-biologists who took part in this event. Most attendees mainly associated synthetic biology with contributions from the best-known public figures of the field, rarely mentioning other scientists. Media extrapolations of those contributions appeared to have created unrealistic expectations and irrelevant fears that were widely disconnected from the current research in synthetic biology. Another observation was that when debating developments in synthetic biology, semantics strongly mattered: depending on the terms used to present an application of synthetic biology, attendees reacted in radically different ways. For example, using the term "GMOs" (genetically modified organisms) rather than the term "genetic engineering" led to very different reactions. Stimulating debates also happened with participants having unanticipated points of view, for instance biocentrist ethicists who argued that engineered microbes should not be used for human purposes. Another communication challenge emerged from the connotations and inaccuracies surrounding the word "life", which impaired constructive debates, thus leading to misconceptions about the abilities of scientists to engineer or even create living organisms. Finally, it appeared that synthetic biologists tend to overestimate the knowledge of non-biologists, further affecting communication. The motivation and ability of synthetic biologists to communicate their work outside their research field needs to be fostered, notably towards policymakers who need a more accurate and technical understanding of the field to make informed decisions. Interdisciplinary events gathering scholars working in and around synthetic biology are an effective tool in addressing those

Is It Time for Synthetic Biodiversity Conservation?

Science.gov (United States)

Piaggio, Antoinette J; Segelbacher, Gernot; Seddon, Philip J; Alphey, Luke; Bennett, Elizabeth L; Carlson, Robert H; Friedman, Robert M; Kanavy, Dona; Phelan, Ryan; Redford, Kent H; Rosales, Marina; Slobodian, Lydia; Wheeler, Keith

2017-02-01

Evidence indicates that, despite some critical successes, current conservation approaches are not slowing the overall rate of biodiversity loss. The field of synthetic biology, which is capable of altering natural genomes with extremely precise editing, might offer the potential to resolve some intractable conservation problems (e.g., invasive species or pathogens). However, it is our opinion that there has been insufficient engagement by the conservation community with practitioners of synthetic biology. We contend that rapid, large-scale engagement of these two communities is urgently needed to avoid unintended and deleterious ecological consequences. To this point we describe case studies where synthetic biology is currently being applied to conservation, and we highlight the benefits to conservation biologists from engaging with this emerging technology. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Curcumin protects against tartrazine-mediated oxidative stress and hepatotoxicity in male rats.

Science.gov (United States)

El-Desoky, G E; Abdel-Ghaffar, A; Al-Othman, Z A; Habila, M A; Al-Sheikh, Y A; Ghneim, H K; Giesy, J P; Aboul-Soud, M A M

2017-02-01

Synthetic dyes have been reported to exert detrimental effects on the health of humans. This study evaluated the effects of a diet containing tartrazine (Tz) on rats which included: i) biochemical parameters including hepatic enzymes, kidney functions and profiles of lipids; ii) markers of oxidative stress in cells by measuring concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH); iii) activities of selected, key hepatic antioxidant enzymes including catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx); iv) pathologies of liver. Also, protective effects of three doses of curcumin (CUR), a natural food coloring agent, on these parameters in rats that had been co-exposed to Tz. Fifty Wistar male albino rats were randomly divided into five groups: Group I, control, where rats were fed a normal diet; Group II, rats were fed normal diets containing 7.5 mg Tz/kg diet, dry mass (dm); In Groups III, IV and V, rats were fed diets containing Tz plus 1.0, 2.0 or 4.0 g CUR/kg diet, dm, respectively. Whole blood was collected after 90 d of exposure, homogenates of liver were prepared and the above analyses were conducted. Exposure to Tz in the diet caused statistically significant (peffects on functions of liver and kidney and the profile of relative concentrations of lipids. CUR significantly (peffects on enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant and indicators of oxidative stress about rats fed Tz (Group II) to values in control rats. However, co-administration of 1.0 g CUR with Tz (Group III) exhibited a negligible effect on those parameters. The results of this study suggest benefits of the use of CUR, as a promising natural food additive to counteract oxidative stress caused by dietary exposure to the synthetic dye Tz due to potent protective antioxidant activity. Blending some natural food additives, such as CUR with diets containing synthetic dyes, could moderate potential effects of these artificial dyes. Decreasing or removing toxins in

Agent-based modelling in synthetic biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Gorochowski, Thomas E

2016-11-30

Biological systems exhibit complex behaviours that emerge at many different levels of organization. These span the regulation of gene expression within single cells to the use of quorum sensing to co-ordinate the action of entire bacterial colonies. Synthetic biology aims to make the engineering of biology easier, offering an opportunity to control natural systems and develop new synthetic systems with useful prescribed behaviours. However, in many cases, it is not understood how individual cells should be programmed to ensure the emergence of a required collective behaviour. Agent-based modelling aims to tackle this problem, offering a framework in which to simulate such systems and explore cellular design rules. In this article, I review the use of agent-based models in synthetic biology, outline the available computational tools, and provide details on recently engineered biological systems that are amenable to this approach. I further highlight the challenges facing this methodology and some of the potential future directions. © 2016 The Author(s).

Bioinspired Chemical Communication between Synthetic Nanomotors.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Chuanrui; Chang, Xiaocong; Teymourian, Hazhir; Ramírez-Herrera, Doris E; Esteban-Fernández de Ávila, Berta; Lu, Xiaolong; Li, Jinxing; He, Sha; Fang, Chengcheng; Liang, Yuyan; Mou, Fangzhi; Guan, Jianguo; Wang, Joseph

2018-01-02

While chemical communication plays a key role in diverse natural processes, the intelligent chemical communication between synthetic nanomotors remains unexplored. The design and operation of bioinspired synthetic nanomotors is presented. Chemical communication between nanomotors is possible and has an influence on propulsion behavior. A chemical "message" is sent from a moving activator motor to a nearby activated (receiver) motor by release of Ag + ions from a Janus polystyrene/Ni/Au/Ag activator motor to the activated Janus SiO 2 /Pt nanomotor. The transmitted silver signal is translated rapidly into a dramatic speed change associated with the enhanced catalytic activity of activated motors. Selective and successive activation of multiple nanomotors is achieved by sequential localized chemical communications. The concept of establishing chemical communication between different synthetic nanomotors paves the way to intelligent nanoscale robotic systems that are capable of cooperating with each other. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Progress in electrochemical synthesis of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramimoghadam, Donya; Bagheri, Samira; Hamid, Sharifah Bee Abd

2014-01-01

Recently, magnetic iron oxide particles have been emerged as significant nanomaterials due to its extensive range of application in various fields. In this regard, synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles with desirable properties and high potential applications are greatly demanded. Therefore, investigation on different iron oxide phases and their magnetic properties along with various commonly used synthetic techniques are remarked and thoroughly described in this review. Electrochemical synthesis as a newfound method with unique advantages is elaborated, followed by design approaches and key parameters to control the properties of the iron oxide nanoparticles. Additionally, since the dispersion of iron oxide nanoparticles is as important as its preparation, surface modification issue has been a serious challenge which is comprehensively discussed using different surfactants. Despite the advantages of the electrochemical synthesis method, this technique has been poorly studied and requires deep investigations on effectual parameters such as current density, pH, electrolyte concentration etc. - Highlights: • IONPs are applied in chemical industries, medicine, magnetic storage etc. • Electrochemical synthesis (EC) is convenient, eco-friendly, selective and low-cost. • EC key factors are current density, pH, electrolyte concentration, electrode type. • Organic, inorganic and biological materials can be used to modify IONPs’ surface. • The physicochemical properties of IONPs can be controlled by adding surfactants

DNA Mismatch Repair and Oxidative DNA Damage: Implications for Cancer Biology and Treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bridge, Gemma; Rashid, Sukaina; Martin, Sarah A.

2014-01-01

Many components of the cell, including lipids, proteins and both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA, are vulnerable to deleterious modifications caused by reactive oxygen species. If not repaired, oxidative DNA damage can lead to disease-causing mutations, such as in cancer. Base excision repair and nucleotide excision repair are the two DNA repair pathways believed to orchestrate the removal of oxidative lesions. However, recent findings suggest that the mismatch repair pathway may also be important for the response to oxidative DNA damage. This is particularly relevant in cancer where mismatch repair genes are frequently mutated or epigenetically silenced. In this review we explore how the regulation of oxidative DNA damage by mismatch repair proteins may impact on carcinogenesis. We discuss recent studies that identify potential new treatments for mismatch repair deficient tumours, which exploit this non-canonical role of mismatch repair using synthetic lethal targeting

DNA Mismatch Repair and Oxidative DNA Damage: Implications for Cancer Biology and Treatment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bridge, Gemma; Rashid, Sukaina; Martin, Sarah A., E-mail: sarah.martin@qmul.ac.uk [Centre for Molecular Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, Charterhouse Square, London EC1M 6BQ (United Kingdom)

2014-08-05

Many components of the cell, including lipids, proteins and both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA, are vulnerable to deleterious modifications caused by reactive oxygen species. If not repaired, oxidative DNA damage can lead to disease-causing mutations, such as in cancer. Base excision repair and nucleotide excision repair are the two DNA repair pathways believed to orchestrate the removal of oxidative lesions. However, recent findings suggest that the mismatch repair pathway may also be important for the response to oxidative DNA damage. This is particularly relevant in cancer where mismatch repair genes are frequently mutated or epigenetically silenced. In this review we explore how the regulation of oxidative DNA damage by mismatch repair proteins may impact on carcinogenesis. We discuss recent studies that identify potential new treatments for mismatch repair deficient tumours, which exploit this non-canonical role of mismatch repair using synthetic lethal targeting.

New Catalysts for Direct Methanol Oxidation Fuel Cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adzic, Radoslav

1998-08-01

A new class of efficient electrocatalytic materials based on platinum - metal oxide systems has been synthetized and characterized by several techniques. Best activity was found with NiWO{sub 4}-, CoWO{sub 4}-, and RuO{sub 2}- sr¡pported platinum catalysts. A very similar activity at room temperature was observed with the electrodes prepared with the catalyst obtained from International Fuel Cells Inc. for the same Pt loading. Surprisingly, the two tungstates per se show a small activity for methanol oxidation without any Pt loading. Synthesis of NiWO{sub 4} and CoWO{sub 4} were carried out by solid-state reactions. FTIR spectroscopy shows that the tungstates contain a certain amount of physically adsorbed water even after heating samples at 200{degrees}C. A direct relationship between the activity for methanol oxidation and the amount of adsorbed water on those oxides has been found. The Ru(0001) single crystal shows a very small activity for CO adsorption and oxidation, in contrast to the behavior of polycrystalline Ru. In situ extended x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (EXAFS) and x-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES) showed that the OH adsorption on Ru in the Pt-Ru alloy appears to be the limiting step in methanol oxidation. This does not occur for Pt-RuO{SUB 2} electrocatalyst, which explains its advantages over the Pt-Ru alloys. The IFCC electrocatalyst has the properties of the Pt-Ru alloy.

Synthetic multicellular oscillatory systems: controlling protein dynamics with genetic circuits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koseska, Aneta; Volkov, Evgenii; Kurths, Juergen

2011-01-01

Synthetic biology is a relatively new research discipline that combines standard biology approaches with the constructive nature of engineering. Thus, recent efforts in the field of synthetic biology have given a perspective to consider cells as 'programmable matter'. Here, we address the possibility of using synthetic circuits to control protein dynamics. In particular, we show how intercellular communication and stochasticity can be used to manipulate the dynamical behavior of a population of coupled synthetic units and, in this manner, finely tune the expression of specific proteins of interest, e.g. in large bioreactors.

Technical Assessment: Synthetic Biology

Science.gov (United States)

2015-01-01

Pfizer, Bausch & Lomb, Coca - Cola , and other Fortune 500 companies 8 Data estimated by the... financial prize for ideas to drive forward the production of a sensor relying on synthetic organisms that can detect exposure to 500 specific chemicals

Quantitative combination of natural anti-oxidants prevents metabolic syndrome by reducing oxidative stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Mingjing; Zhao, Zhen; Lv, Pengyu; Li, YuFang; Gao, Juntao; Zhang, Michael; Zhao, Baolu

2015-12-01

Insulin resistance and abdominal obesity are present in the majority of people with the metabolic syndrome. Antioxidant therapy might be a useful strategy for type 2 diabetes and other insulin-resistant states. The combination of vitamin C (Vc) and vitamin E has synthetic scavenging effect on free radicals and inhibition effect on lipid peroxidation. However, there are few studies about how to define the best combination of more than three anti-oxidants as it is difficult or impossible to test the anti-oxidant effect of the combination of every concentration of each ingredient experimentally. Here we present a math model, which is based on the classical Hill equation to determine the best combination, called Fixed Dose Combination (FDC), of several natural anti-oxidants, including Vc, green tea polyphenols (GTP) and grape seed extract proanthocyanidin (GSEP). Then we investigated the effects of FDC on oxidative stress, blood glucose and serum lipid levels in cultured 3T3-L1 adipocytes, high fat diet (HFD)-fed rats which serve as obesity model, and KK-ay mice as diabetic model. The level of serum malondialdehyde (MDA) in the treated rats was studied and Hematoxylin-Eosin (HE) staining or Oil red slices of liver and adipose tissue in the rats were examined as well. FDC shows excellent antioxidant and anti-glycation activity by attenuating lipid peroxidation. FDC determined in this investigation can become a potential solution to reduce obesity, to improve insulin sensitivity and be beneficial for the treatment of fat and diabetic patients. It is the first time to use the math model to determine the best ratio of three anti-oxidants, which can save much more time and chemical materials than traditional experimental method. This quantitative method represents a potentially new and useful strategy to screen all possible combinations of many natural anti-oxidants, therefore may help develop novel therapeutics with the potential to ameliorate the worldwide metabolic

Synthetic Biology: Applications in the Food Sector.

Science.gov (United States)

Tyagi, Ashish; Kumar, Ashwani; Aparna, S V; Mallappa, Rashmi H; Grover, Sunita; Batish, Virender Kumar

2016-08-17

Synthetic biology also termed as "genomic alchemy" represents a powerful area of science that is based on the convergence of biological sciences with systems engineering. It has been fittingly described as "moving from reading the genetic code to writing it" as it focuses on building, modeling, designing and fabricating novel biological systems using customized gene components that result in artificially created genetic circuitry. The scientifically compelling idea of the technological manipulation of life has been advocated since long time. Realization of this idea has gained momentum with development of high speed automation and the falling cost of gene sequencing and synthesis following the completion of the human genome project. Synthetic biology will certainly be instrumental in shaping the development of varying areas ranging from biomedicine, biopharmaceuticals, chemical production, food and dairy quality monitoring, packaging, and storage of food and dairy products, bioremediation and bioenergy production, etc. However, potential dangers of using synthetic life forms have to be acknowledged and adoption of policies by the scientific community to ensure safe practice while making important advancements in the ever expanding field of synthetic biology is to be fully supported and implemented.

Preliminary characterization and biological reduction of putative biogenic iron oxides (BIOS) from the Tonga-Kermadec Arc, southwest Pacific Ocean.

Science.gov (United States)

Langley, S; Igric, P; Takahashi, Y; Sakai, Y; Fortin, D; Hannington, M D; Schwarz-Schampera, U

2009-01-01

Sediment samples were obtained from areas of diffuse hydrothermal venting along the seabed in the Tonga sector of the Tonga-Kermadec Arc, southwest Pacific Ocean. Sediments from Volcano 1 and Volcano 19 were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and found to be composed primarily of the iron oxyhydroxide mineral, two-line ferrihydrite. XRD also suggested the possible presence of minor amounts of more ordered iron (hydr)oxides (including six-line ferrihydrite, goethite/lepidocrocite and magnetite) in the biogenic iron oxides (BIOS) from Volcano 1; however, Mössbauer spectroscopy failed to detect any mineral phases more crystalline than two-line ferrihydrite. The minerals were precipitated on the surfaces of abundant filamentous microbial structures. Morphologically, some of these structures were similar in appearance to the known iron-oxidizing genus Mariprofundus spp., suggesting that the sediments are composed of biogenic iron oxides. At Volcano 19, an areally extensive, active vent field, the microbial cells appeared to be responsible for the formation of cohesive chimney-like structures of iron oxyhydroxide, 2-3 m in height, whereas at Volcano 1, an older vent field, no chimney-like structures were apparent. Iron reduction of the sediment material (i.e. BIOS) by Shewanella putrefaciens CN32 was measured, in vitro, as the ratio of [total Fe(II)]:[total Fe]. From this parameter, reduction rates were calculated for Volcano 1 BIOS (0.0521 day(-1)), Volcano 19 BIOS (0.0473 day(-1)), and hydrous ferric oxide, a synthetic two-line ferrihydrite (0.0224 day(-1)). Sediments from both BIOS sites were more easily reduced than synthetic ferrihydrite, which suggests that the decrease in effective surface area of the minerals within the sediments (due to the presence of the organic component) does not inhibit subsequent microbial reduction. These results indicate that natural, marine BIOS are easily reduced in the presence of dissimilatory iron-reducing bacteria, and that the

Rapid microwave-assisted synthesis of dextran-coated iron oxide nanoparticles for magnetic resonance imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Osborne, Elizabeth A; Atkins, Tonya M; Kauzlarich, Susan M; Gilbert, Dustin A; Liu Kai; Louie, Angelique Y

2012-01-01

Currently, magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are the only nanosized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents approved for clinical use, yet commercial manufacturing of these agents has been limited or discontinued. Though there is still widespread demand for these particles both for clinical use and research, they are difficult to obtain commercially, and complicated syntheses make in-house preparation unfeasible for most biological research labs or clinics. To make commercial production viable and increase accessibility of these products, it is crucial to develop simple, rapid and reproducible preparations of biocompatible iron oxide nanoparticles. Here, we report a rapid, straightforward microwave-assisted synthesis of superparamagnetic dextran-coated iron oxide nanoparticles. The nanoparticles were produced in two hydrodynamic sizes with differing core morphologies by varying the synthetic method as either a two-step or single-step process. A striking benefit of these methods is the ability to obtain swift and consistent results without the necessity for air-, pH- or temperature-sensitive techniques; therefore, reaction times and complex manufacturing processes are greatly reduced as compared to conventional synthetic methods. This is a great benefit for cost-effective translation to commercial production. The nanoparticles are found to be superparamagnetic and exhibit properties consistent for use in MRI. In addition, the dextran coating imparts the water solubility and biocompatibility necessary for in vivo utilization. (paper)

Rapid microwave-assisted synthesis of dextran-coated iron oxide nanoparticles for magnetic resonance imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Osborne, Elizabeth A; Atkins, Tonya M; Gilbert, Dustin A; Kauzlarich, Susan M; Liu, Kai; Louie, Angelique Y

2012-06-01

Currently, magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are the only nanosized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents approved for clinical use, yet commercial manufacturing of these agents has been limited or discontinued. Though there is still widespread demand for these particles both for clinical use and research, they are difficult to obtain commercially, and complicated syntheses make in-house preparation unfeasible for most biological research labs or clinics. To make commercial production viable and increase accessibility of these products, it is crucial to develop simple, rapid and reproducible preparations of biocompatible iron oxide nanoparticles. Here, we report a rapid, straightforward microwave-assisted synthesis of superparamagnetic dextran-coated iron oxide nanoparticles. The nanoparticles were produced in two hydrodynamic sizes with differing core morphologies by varying the synthetic method as either a two-step or single-step process. A striking benefit of these methods is the ability to obtain swift and consistent results without the necessity for air-, pH- or temperature-sensitive techniques; therefore, reaction times and complex manufacturing processes are greatly reduced as compared to conventional synthetic methods. This is a great benefit for cost-effective translation to commercial production. The nanoparticles are found to be superparamagnetic and exhibit properties consistent for use in MRI. In addition, the dextran coating imparts the water solubility and biocompatibility necessary for in vivo utilization.

Synthetic Genetic Targeting of Genome Instability in Cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sajesh, Babu V.; Guppy, Brent J.; McManus, Kirk J.

2013-01-01

Cancer is a leading cause of death throughout the World. A limitation of many current chemotherapeutic approaches is that their cytotoxic effects are not restricted to cancer cells, and adverse side effects can occur within normal tissues. Consequently, novel strategies are urgently needed to better target cancer cells. As we approach the era of personalized medicine, targeting the specific molecular defect(s) within a given patient’s tumor will become a more effective treatment strategy than traditional approaches that often target a given cancer type or sub-type. Synthetic genetic interactions are now being examined for their therapeutic potential and are designed to target the specific genetic and epigenetic phenomena associated with tumor formation, and thus are predicted to be highly selective. In general, two complementary approaches have been employed, including synthetic lethality and synthetic dosage lethality, to target aberrant expression and/or function associated with tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes, respectively. Here we discuss the concepts of synthetic lethality and synthetic dosage lethality, and explain three general experimental approaches designed to identify novel genetic interactors. We present examples and discuss the merits and caveats of each approach. Finally, we provide insight into the subsequent pre-clinical work required to validate novel candidate drug targets

Segmental intelligibility of synthetic speech produced by rule.

Science.gov (United States)

Logan, J S; Greene, B G; Pisoni, D B

1989-08-01

This paper reports the results of an investigation that employed the modified rhyme test (MRT) to measure the segmental intelligibility of synthetic speech generated automatically by rule. Synthetic speech produced by ten text-to-speech systems was studied and compared to natural speech. A variation of the standard MRT was also used to study the effects of response set size on perceptual confusions. Results indicated that the segmental intelligibility scores formed a continuum. Several systems displayed very high levels of performance that were close to or equal to scores obtained with natural speech; other systems displayed substantially worse performance compared to natural speech. The overall performance of the best system, DECtalk--Paul, was equivalent to the data obtained with natural speech for consonants in syllable-initial position. The findings from this study are discussed in terms of the use of a set of standardized procedures for measuring intelligibility of synthetic speech under controlled laboratory conditions. Recent work investigating the perception of synthetic speech under more severe conditions in which greater demands are made on the listener's processing resources is also considered. The wide range of intelligibility scores obtained in the present study demonstrates important differences in perception and suggests that not all synthetic speech is perceptually equivalent to the listener.

Segmental intelligibility of synthetic speech produced by rule

Science.gov (United States)

Logan, John S.; Greene, Beth G.; Pisoni, David B.

2012-01-01

This paper reports the results of an investigation that employed the modified rhyme test (MRT) to measure the segmental intelligibility of synthetic speech generated automatically by rule. Synthetic speech produced by ten text-to-speech systems was studied and compared to natural speech. A variation of the standard MRT was also used to study the effects of response set size on perceptual confusions. Results indicated that the segmental intelligibility scores formed a continuum. Several systems displayed very high levels of performance that were close to or equal to scores obtained with natural speech; other systems displayed substantially worse performance compared to natural speech. The overall performance of the best system, DECtalk—Paul, was equivalent to the data obtained with natural speech for consonants in syllable-initial position. The findings from this study are discussed in terms of the use of a set of standardized procedures for measuring intelligibility of synthetic speech under controlled laboratory conditions. Recent work investigating the perception of synthetic speech under more severe conditions in which greater demands are made on the listener’s processing resources is also considered. The wide range of intelligibility scores obtained in the present study demonstrates important differences in perception and suggests that not all synthetic speech is perceptually equivalent to the listener. PMID:2527884

Intravenous beta-endorphin administration fails to alter hypothalamic blood flow in rats expressing normal or reduced nitric oxide synthase activity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Benyo, Z.; Szabo, C; Velkel, M.H; Bohus, B.G J; Wahl, M.A; Sandor, P

1996-01-01

beta-Endorphin (beta-END) significantly contributes to the maintenance of hypothalamic blood flow (HBF) autoregulation during hemorrhagic hypotension in rats. Recently, several natural and synthetic opioid peptides were reported to induce nitric oxide (NO)-mediated dilation in the cerebrovascular

Examination of commercially available copper oxide wire particles in combination with albendazole for control of gastrointestinal nematodes in lambs

Science.gov (United States)

Alternatives to synthetic anthelmintics remain critical due to the prevalence of anthelmintic resistance. The objective of the experiment was to determine the efficacy of copper oxide wire particles (COWP) from three commercial sources to control Haemonchus contortus in lambs. Naturally infected Ka...

Stabilization/solidification of synthetic Nigerian drill cuttings | Opete ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Stabilization/solidification of synthetic Nigerian drill cuttings. SEO Opete, IA Mangibo, ET Iyagba. Abstract. In the Nigerian oil and gas industry, large quantities of oily and synthetic drill cuttings are produced annually. These drill cuttings are heterogeneous wastes which comprises of hydrocarbons, heavy metals and ...

The Next Generation of Synthetic Biology Chassis: Moving Synthetic Biology from the Laboratory to the Field.

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Bryn L

2016-12-16

Escherichia coli (E. coli) has played a pivotal role in the development of genetics and molecular biology as scientific fields. It is therefore not surprising that synthetic biology (SB) was built upon E. coli and continues to dominate the field. However, scientific capabilities have advanced from simple gene mutations to the insertion of rationally designed, complex synthetic circuits and creation of entirely synthetic genomes. The point is rapidly approaching where E. coli is no longer an adequate host for the increasingly sophisticated genetic designs of SB. It is time to develop the next generation of SB chassis; robust organisms that can provide the advanced physiology novel synthetic circuits will require to move SB from the laboratory into fieldable technologies. This can be accomplished by developing chassis-specific genetic toolkits that are as extensive as those for E. coli. However, the holy grail of SB would be the development of a universal toolkit that can be ported into any chassis. This viewpoint article underscores the need for new bacterial chassis, as well as discusses some of the important considerations in their selection. It also highlights a few examples of robust, tractable bacterial species that can meet the demands of tomorrow's state-of-the-art in SB. Significant advances have been made in the first 15 years since this field has emerged. However, the advances over the next 15 years will occur not in laboratory organisms, but in fieldable species where the potential of SB can be fully realized in game changing technology.

Simultaneous Oxidation and Sequestration of As(III) from Water by Using Redox Polymer-Based Fe(III) Oxide Nanocomposite.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiaolin; Wu, Mengfei; Dong, Hao; Li, Hongchao; Pan, Bingcai

2017-06-06

Water decontamination from As(III) is an urgent but still challenging task. Herein, we fabricated a bifunctional nanocomposite HFO@PS-Cl for highly efficient removal of As(III), with active chlorine covalently binding spherical polystyrene host for in situ oxidation of As(III) to As(V), and Fe(III) hydroxide (HFO) nanoparticles (NPs) embedded inside for specific As(V) removal. HFO@PS-Cl could work effectively in a wide pH range (5-9), and other substances like sulfate, chloride, bicarbonate, silicate, and humic acid exert insignificant effect on As(III) removal. As(III) sequestration is realized via two pathways, that is, oxidation to As(V) by the active chlorine followed by specific As(V) adsorption onto HFO NPs, and As(III) adsorption onto HFO NPs followed by oxidation to As(V). The exhausted HFO@PS-Cl could be refreshed for cyclic runs with insignificant capacity loss by the combined regeneration strategy, that is, alkaline solution to rinse the adsorbed As(V) and NaClO solution to renew the host oxidation capability. In addition, fixed-bed experiments demonstrated that the HFO@PS-Cl column could generate >1760 bed volume (BV) effluent from a synthetic As(III)-containing groundwater to meet the drinking water standard (nanocomposites, HFO@PS-N and HFO@D201 could only generate 450 and 600 BV effluents under otherwise identical conditions.

Biosynthesis of therapeutic natural products using synthetic biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Awan, Ali R; Shaw, William M; Ellis, Tom

2016-10-01

Natural products are a group of bioactive structurally diverse chemicals produced by microorganisms and plants. These molecules and their derivatives have contributed to over a third of the therapeutic drugs produced in the last century. However, over the last few decades traditional drug discovery pipelines from natural products have become far less productive and far more expensive. One recent development with promise to combat this trend is the application of synthetic biology to therapeutic natural product biosynthesis. Synthetic biology is a young discipline with roots in systems biology, genetic engineering, and metabolic engineering. In this review, we discuss the use of synthetic biology to engineer improved yields of existing therapeutic natural products. We further describe the use of synthetic biology to combine and express natural product biosynthetic genes in unprecedented ways, and how this holds promise for opening up completely new avenues for drug discovery and production. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Aspects of the political economy of development and synthetic biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Wellhausen, Rachel; Mukunda, Gautam

2009-12-01

What implications might synthetic biology's potential as a wholly new method of production have for the world economy, particularly developing countries? Theories of political economy predict that synthetic biology can shift terms of trade and displace producers in developing countries. Governments, however, retain the ability to mitigate negative changes through social safety nets and to foster adaptation to some changes through research, education and investment. We consider the effects the synthetic production of otherwise naturally derived molecules are likely to have on trade and investment, particularly in developing countries. Both rubber in Malaysia and indigo dyes in India provide historical examples of natural molecules that faced market dislocations from synthetic competitors. Natural rubber was able to maintain significant market share, while natural indigo vanished from world markets. These cases demonstrate the two extremes of the impact synthetic biology might have on naturally derived products. If developing countries can cushion the pain of technological changes by providing producers support as they retool or exit, the harmful effects of synthetic biology can be mitigated while its benefits can still be captured.

Influence of Gold on Hydrotalcite-like Compound Catalysts for Toluene and CO Total Oxidation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eric Genty

2013-12-01

Full Text Available X6Al2HT500 hydrotalcites, where X represents Mg, Fe, Cu or Zn were synthetized and investigated before and after gold deposition for toluene and CO total oxidation reactions. The samples have been characterized by specific areas, XRD measurements and Temperature Programmed Reduction. Concerning the toluene total oxidation, the best activity was obtained with Au/Cu6Al2HT500 catalyst with T50 at 260 °C. However, catalytic behavior of Au/X6Al2HT500 sample in both reactions depends mainly on the nature of the support.

Synthetic polyester-hydrolyzing enzymes from thermophilic actinomycetes.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Ren; Oeser, Thorsten; Zimmermann, Wolfgang

2014-01-01

Thermophilic actinomycetes produce enzymes capable of hydrolyzing synthetic polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET). In addition to carboxylesterases, which have hydrolytic activity predominantly against PET oligomers, esterases related to cutinases also hydrolyze synthetic polymers. The production of these enzymes by actinomycetes as well as their recombinant expression in heterologous hosts is described and their catalytic activity against polyester substrates is compared. Assays to analyze the enzymatic hydrolysis of synthetic polyesters are evaluated, and a kinetic model describing the enzymatic heterogeneous hydrolysis process is discussed. Structure-function and structure-stability relationships of actinomycete polyester hydrolases are compared based on molecular dynamics simulations and recently solved protein structures. In addition, recent progress in enhancing their activity and thermal stability by random or site-directed mutagenesis is presented. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comprehension of synthetic speech and digitized natural speech by adults with aphasia.

Science.gov (United States)

Hux, Karen; Knollman-Porter, Kelly; Brown, Jessica; Wallace, Sarah E

2017-09-01

Using text-to-speech technology to provide simultaneous written and auditory content presentation may help compensate for chronic reading challenges if people with aphasia can understand synthetic speech output; however, inherent auditory comprehension challenges experienced by people with aphasia may make understanding synthetic speech difficult. This study's purpose was to compare the preferences and auditory comprehension accuracy of people with aphasia when listening to sentences generated with digitized natural speech, Alex synthetic speech (i.e., Macintosh platform), or David synthetic speech (i.e., Windows platform). The methodology required each of 20 participants with aphasia to select one of four images corresponding in meaning to each of 60 sentences comprising three stimulus sets. Results revealed significantly better accuracy given digitized natural speech than either synthetic speech option; however, individual participant performance analyses revealed three patterns: (a) comparable accuracy regardless of speech condition for 30% of participants, (b) comparable accuracy between digitized natural speech and one, but not both, synthetic speech option for 45% of participants, and (c) greater accuracy with digitized natural speech than with either synthetic speech option for remaining participants. Ranking and Likert-scale rating data revealed a preference for digitized natural speech and David synthetic speech over Alex synthetic speech. Results suggest many individuals with aphasia can comprehend synthetic speech options available on popular operating systems. Further examination of synthetic speech use to support reading comprehension through text-to-speech technology is thus warranted. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Synthesis of graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide by needle platy natural vein graphite

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rathnayake, R.M.N.M. [National Institute of Fundamental Studies, Kandy (Sri Lanka); Graduate School of Engineering, Toyota Technological Institute, 2-12-1 Hisakata, Tempaku, Nagoya 468-8511 (Japan); Wijayasinghe, H.W.M.A.C., E-mail: athulawijaya@gmail.com [National Institute of Fundamental Studies, Kandy (Sri Lanka); Pitawala, H.M.T.G.A. [Department of Geology, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya (Sri Lanka); Yoshimura, Masamichi; Huang, Hsin-Hui [Graduate School of Engineering, Toyota Technological Institute, 2-12-1 Hisakata, Tempaku, Nagoya 468-8511 (Japan)

2017-01-30

Highlights: • The high purity of this form of needle platy natural vein graphite is expected to synthesize GO and rGO readily and efficiently, as compared to the synthetic and less pure graphite raw materials. • Production of large-scale GO and rGO for industrial applications can be achieved by using this highly crystalline NPG vein graphite, and it adds value to the natural resources. • High quality, few-layer, and cost effective GO and rGO can achieve great results using this low cost, natural graphite. - Abstract: Among natural graphite varieties, needle platy vein graphite (NPG) has very high purity. Therefore, it is readily used to prepare graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO). In this study, GO and rGO were prepared using chemical oxidation and reduction process, respectively. The synthesized materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. XRD studies confirmed the increase of the interlayer spacing of GO and rGO in between 3.35 to 8.66 A°. AFM studies showed the layer height of rGO to be 1.05 nm after the reduction process. TEM micrographs clearly illustrated that the prepared GO has more than 25 layers, while the rGO has only less than 15 layers. Furthermore, the effect of chemical oxidation and reduction processes on surface morphology of graphite were clearly observed in FESEM micrographs. The calculated R{sub O/C} of GO and rGO using XPS analysis are 5.37% and 1.77%, respectively. The present study revealed the successful and cost effective nature of the chemical oxidation, and the reduction processes for the production of GO and rGO out of natural vein graphite.

Synthesis of graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide by needle platy natural vein graphite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rathnayake, R.M.N.M.; Wijayasinghe, H.W.M.A.C.; Pitawala, H.M.T.G.A.; Yoshimura, Masamichi; Huang, Hsin-Hui

2017-01-01

Highlights: • The high purity of this form of needle platy natural vein graphite is expected to synthesize GO and rGO readily and efficiently, as compared to the synthetic and less pure graphite raw materials. • Production of large-scale GO and rGO for industrial applications can be achieved by using this highly crystalline NPG vein graphite, and it adds value to the natural resources. • High quality, few-layer, and cost effective GO and rGO can achieve great results using this low cost, natural graphite. - Abstract: Among natural graphite varieties, needle platy vein graphite (NPG) has very high purity. Therefore, it is readily used to prepare graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO). In this study, GO and rGO were prepared using chemical oxidation and reduction process, respectively. The synthesized materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. XRD studies confirmed the increase of the interlayer spacing of GO and rGO in between 3.35 to 8.66 A°. AFM studies showed the layer height of rGO to be 1.05 nm after the reduction process. TEM micrographs clearly illustrated that the prepared GO has more than 25 layers, while the rGO has only less than 15 layers. Furthermore, the effect of chemical oxidation and reduction processes on surface morphology of graphite were clearly observed in FESEM micrographs. The calculated R_O_/_C of GO and rGO using XPS analysis are 5.37% and 1.77%, respectively. The present study revealed the successful and cost effective nature of the chemical oxidation, and the reduction processes for the production of GO and rGO out of natural vein graphite.

Design Automation in Synthetic Biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Appleton, Evan; Madsen, Curtis; Roehner, Nicholas; Densmore, Douglas

2017-04-03

Design automation refers to a category of software tools for designing systems that work together in a workflow for designing, building, testing, and analyzing systems with a target behavior. In synthetic biology, these tools are called bio-design automation (BDA) tools. In this review, we discuss the BDA tools areas-specify, design, build, test, and learn-and introduce the existing software tools designed to solve problems in these areas. We then detail the functionality of some of these tools and show how they can be used together to create the desired behavior of two types of modern synthetic genetic regulatory networks. Copyright © 2017 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; all rights reserved.

Synthetic greenhouse gases under control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horisberger, B.; Karlaganis, G.

2003-01-01

This article discusses new Swiss regulations on the use of synthetic materials that posses a considerable greenhouse-warming potential. Synthetic materials such as hydro-chlorofluorocarbons HCFCs, perfluoride-hydrocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride have, in recent years, replaced chlorofluorocarbons CFCs, which were banned on account of their ozone depletion characteristics. The use of these persistent substances is now being limited to applications where more environment-friendly alternatives are not available. The measures decreed in the legislation, which include a general ban on HCFCs as of 2004 and a ban on the export of installations and equipment that use ozone-depleting refrigerants are described. Details on the legislation's effects on the Swiss refrigeration industry are listed and discussed

Interfacial bonding stabilizes rhodium and rhodium oxide nanoparticles on layered Nb oxide and Ta oxide supports.

Science.gov (United States)

Strayer, Megan E; Binz, Jason M; Tanase, Mihaela; Shahri, Seyed Mehdi Kamali; Sharma, Renu; Rioux, Robert M; Mallouk, Thomas E

2014-04-16

Metal nanoparticles are commonly supported on metal oxides, but their utility as catalysts is limited by coarsening at high temperatures. Rhodium oxide and rhodium metal nanoparticles on niobate and tantalate supports are anomalously stable. To understand this, the nanoparticle-support interaction was studied by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), environmental transmission electron microscopy (ETEM), and synchrotron X-ray absorption and scattering techniques. Nanosheets derived from the layered oxides KCa2Nb3O10, K4Nb6O17, and RbTaO3 were compared as supports to nanosheets of Na-TSM, a synthetic fluoromica (Na0.66Mg2.68(Si3.98Al0.02)O10.02F1.96), and α-Zr(HPO4)2·H2O. High surface area SiO2 and γ-Al2O3 supports were also used for comparison in the ITC experiments. A Born-Haber cycle analysis of ITC data revealed an exothermic interaction between Rh(OH)3 nanoparticles and the layered niobate and tantalate supports, with ΔH values in the range -32 kJ·mol(-1) Rh to -37 kJ·mol(-1) Rh. In contrast, the interaction enthalpy was positive with SiO2 and γ-Al2O3 supports. The strong interfacial bonding in the former case led to "reverse" ripening of micrometer-size Rh(OH)3, which dispersed as 0.5 to 2 nm particles on the niobate and tantalate supports. In contrast, particles grown on Na-TSM and α-Zr(HPO4)2·H2O nanosheets were larger and had a broad size distribution. ETEM, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and pair distribution function analyses were used to study the growth of supported nanoparticles under oxidizing and reducing conditions, as well as the transformation from Rh(OH)3 to Rh nanoparticles. Interfacial covalent bonding, possibly strengthened by d-electron acid/base interactions, appear to stabilize Rh(OH)3, Rh2O3, and Rh nanoparticles on niobate and tantalate supports.

Artificial intelligence and synthetic biology: A tri-temporal contribution.

Science.gov (United States)

Bianchini, Francesco

2016-10-01

Artificial intelligence can make numerous contributions to synthetic biology. I would like to suggest three that are related to the past, present and future of artificial intelligence. From the past, works in biology and artificial systems by Turing and von Neumann prove highly interesting to explore within the new framework of synthetic biology, especially with regard to the notions of self-modification and self-replication and their links to emergence and the bottom-up approach. The current epistemological inquiry into emergence and research on swarm intelligence, superorganisms and biologically inspired cognitive architecture may lead to new achievements on the possibilities of synthetic biology in explaining cognitive processes. Finally, the present-day discussion on the future of artificial intelligence and the rise of superintelligence may point to some research trends for the future of synthetic biology and help to better define the boundary of notions such as "life", "cognition", "artificial" and "natural", as well as their interconnections in theoretical synthetic biology. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Surface chemical immobilization of bioactive peptides on synthetic polymers for cardiac tissue engineering.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosellini, Elisabetta; Cristallini, Caterina; Guerra, Giulio D; Barbani, Niccoletta

2015-01-01

The aim of this work was the development of new synthetic polymeric systems, functionalized by surface chemical modification with bioactive peptides, for myocardial tissue engineering. Polycaprolactone and a poly(ester-ether-ester) block copolymer synthesized in our lab, polycaprolactone-poly(ethylene oxide)-polycaprolactone (PCL-PEO-PCL), were used as the substrates to be modified. Two pentapeptides, H-Gly-Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser-OH (GRGDS) from fibronectin and H-Tyr-Ile-Gly-Ser-Arg-OH (YIGSR) from laminin, were used for the functionalization. Polymeric membranes were obtained by casting from solutions and then functionalized by means of alkaline hydrolysis and subsequent coupling of the bioactive molecules through 1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethylcarbodimide hydrochloride/N-hydroxysuccinimide chemistry. The hydrolysis conditions, in terms of hydrolysis time, temperature, and sodium hydroxide concentration, were optimized for the two materials. The occurrence of the coupling reaction was demonstrated by infrared spectroscopy, as the presence on the functionalized materials of the absorption peaks typical of the two peptides. The peptide surface density was determined by chromatographic analysis and the distribution was studied by infrared chemical imaging. The results showed a nearly homogeneous peptide distribution, with a density above the minimum value necessary to promote cell adhesion. Preliminary in vitro cell culture studies demonstrated that the introduction of the bioactive molecules had a positive effect on improving C2C12 myoblasts growth on the synthetic materials.

Thermal Degradation of Synthetic Cathinones: Implications for Forensic Toxicology.

Science.gov (United States)

Kerrigan, Sarah; Savage, Megan; Cavazos, Cassandra; Bella, Paige

2016-01-01

The synthetic cathinones represent an important class of designer drugs. The widespread attention and publicity associated with these psychostimulants have resulted in numerous legislative actions at state and federal levels throughout the USA. These amphetamine-like compounds are characterized by a β-keto functional group. Although the synthetic cathinones share many properties of their phenethylamine counterparts, the presence of the ketone moiety is responsible for a number of unique and distinct differences in terms of their chemical characteristics and properties. Thermal degradation of methcathinone was first reported several decades ago but has received limited attention. In this study, we identified in situ thermal degradation products for 18 cathinones during gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Oxidative degradation arises from the loss of two hydrogens, yielding a characteristic 2 Da mass shift. Degradation products were characterized by prominent iminium base peaks with mass-to-charge ratios 2 Da lower than the parent drug, and in the case of the pyrrolidine-containing cathinones, prominent molecular ions arising from the 2,3-enamine. Chromatographic and mass spectroscopic data are described for 4-ethylmethcathinone, 4-methylethcathinone, buphedrone, butylone, ethcathinone, ethylone, flephedrone, 3,4-methylenedioxy-α-pyrrolidinobutiophenone, 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone, mephedrone, methcathinone, methedrone, methylone, 4-methyl-α-pyrrolidinobutiophenone, naphyrone, pentedrone, pentylone and pyrovalerone. Degradation was minimized by lowering injection temperatures, residence time in the inlet and eliminating active sites during chromatographic analysis. Chromatographic and mass spectral data for the cathinone degradation products are presented and discussed within the context of forensic toxicological analysis, selection of appropriate instrumental methods and implications for the interpretation of results. © The Author 2015

Bio-treatment of phosphate from synthetic wastewater using ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In this study, the efficient phosphate utilizing isolates were used to remove phosphate from synthetic phosphate wastewater was tested using batch scale process. Hence the objective of the present study was to examine the efficiency of bacterial species individually for the removal of phosphate from synthetic phosphate ...

Synthesis and characterization of transition-metal-doped zinc oxide nanocrystals for spintronics

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xuefeng

Spintronics (spin transport electr onics), in which both spin and charge of carriers are utilized for information processing, is believed to challenge the current microelectronics and to become the next-generation electronics. Nanostructured spintronic materials and their synthetic methodologies are of paramount importance for manufacturing future nanoscale spintronic devices. This thesis aims at studying synthesis, characterization, and magnetism of transition-metal-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocrystals---a diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS)---for potential applications in future nano-spintronics. A simple bottom-up-based synthetic strategy named a solvothermal technique is introduced as the primary synthetic approach and its crystal growth mechanism is scrutinized. N-type cobalt-doped ZnO-based DMS nanocrystals are employed as a model system, and characterized by a broad spectrum of advanced microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. It is found that the self-orientation growth mechanism, imperfect oriented attachment, is intimately correlated with the high-temperature ferromagnetism via defects. The influence of processing on the magnetic properties, such as compositional variations, reaction conditions, and post-growth treatment, is also studied. In this way, an in-depth understanding of processing-structure-property interrelationships and origins of magnetism in DMS nanocrystals are obtained in light of the theoretical framework of a spin-split impurity band model. In addition, a nanoscale spinodal decomposition phase model is also briefly discussed. Following the similar synthetic route, copper- and manganese-doped ZnO nanocrystals have been synthesized and characterized. They both show high-temperature ferromagnetism in line with the aforementioned theoretical model(s). Moreover, they display interesting exchange biasing phenomena at low temperatures, revealing the complexity of magnetic phases therein. The crystal growth strategy demonstrated in this work

Synthetic mullite fabrication from smectite clays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lima, L.N. de; Kiminami, R.H.G.A.

1988-01-01

The technological importance of mullite is mostly due to its refractory properties. Mullite in native form is very rare, and therefore it may be necessary to produced it by synthetic means. Brazil has a large reserve of smectite clays. In this work the process to produce synthetic mullite from these clays by treatment with aluminum sulphate was studied. X-ray analyses has shown the presence of mullite crystals in treated smectite clays of several colours, sinterized at 1100 0 C. By sintering at 1300 0 C, pure mullite was obtained in some colours. (author) [pt

Spectroscopy Study of Synthetic Forsterite Obtained from Zeolite Precursors

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Subotić, B.

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Important ceramics materials are prepared from aluminosilicate based precursors using novel methods, offering at the same time a better control over many important properties. Forsterite, due to its good refractoriness with melting point at 2163 K, excellent electrical insulation properties even at high temperatures, low dielectric permittivity, thermal expansion and chemical stability, is a material of interest to engineers and designers especially as an active medium for tuneable laser and is also a material of interest to SOFC (Solid oxide fuel cells manufacturers. The aim of this study is to investigate the synthesis of crystalline forsterite using different zeolite precursors previously activated by ball milling. Synthetic forsterite was synthesized from different zeolite precursors and MgO combining highenergy ball milling and thermal treatment of the mixture under determined conditions of time and temperature for each operation. In this research are studied the solid-state phase transformations taking place at temperatures below 1273 K. The obtained products were characterized using different spectroscopy techniques in comparison with surface analysis method and X-ray diffraction.

Effects of electron-beam irradiation to the hydroxyapatite and tricalcium phosphate mixtures for the development of new synthetic bone substitutes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Soung Min; Eo, Mi Young; Kang, Ji Young; Park, Jung Min; Seo, Mi Hyun; Myoung, Hoon; Lee, Jong Ho [Seoul National Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Han, Young Hwan; Lee, Byung Cheol [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2010-07-01

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect and potential of electron beam irradiation treatment to new bone formation and healing in rat calvarial bone defects using hydroxyapatite and tricalcium phosphate mixtures. We used 1.0-2.0 MeV linear accelerator and 2.0 MeV superconductive linear accelerator with different irradiation dose such as 1, 30, 60 kGy. Structural changes in this synthetic bone material were analyzed in vitro, such as SEM, elementary and FE-SEM, ATR-IR, and CSR. And after sterilization with ethylene oxide, we use it as a bone graft material, in vivo. Bilateral, standardized truenesses circular calvarial defects, 7.0 mm in diameter, were created in male Sprague-Dawley rats. In each experimental group, the defect was filled with electron beam irradiated synthetic bony mixtures. Rate were sacrificed 2, 4 and 8 weeks post-op. for radiographic, histomorphologic, immunohistochemical staining, TEM, and elementary analysis.

Aerobic and Electrochemical Oxidations with N-Oxyl Reagents

Science.gov (United States)

Miles, Kelsey C.

Selective oxidation of organic compounds represents a significant challenge for chemical transformations. Oxidation methods that utilize nitroxyl catalysts have become increasingly attractive and include Cu/nitroxyl and nitroxyl/NO x co-catalyst systems. Electrochemical activation of nitroxyls is also well known and offers an appealing alternative to the use of chemical co-oxidants. However, academic and industrial organic synthetic communities have not widely adopted electrochemical methods. Nitroxyl catalysts facilitate effective and selective oxidation of alcohols and aldehydes to ketones and carboxylic acids. Selective benzylic, allylic, and alpha-heteroatom C-H abstraction can also be achieved with nitroxyls and provides access to oxygenated products when used in combination with molecular oxygen as a radical trap. This thesis reports various chemical and electrochemical oxidation methods that were developed using nitroxyl mediators. Chapter 1 provides a short review on practical aerobic alcohol oxidation with Cu/nitroxyl and nitroxyl/NO x systems and emphasizes the utility of bicyclic nitroxyls as co-catalysts. In Chapter 2, the combination of these bicyclic nitroxyls with NOx is explored for development of a mild oxidation of alpha-chiral aryl aldehydes and showcases a sequential asymmetric hydroformylation/oxidation method. Chapter 3 reports the synthesis and characterization of two novel Cu/bicyclic nitroxyl complexes and the electronic structure analysis of these complexes. Chapter 4 highlights the electrochemical activation of various nitroxyls and reports an in-depth study on electrochemical alcohol oxidation and compares the reactivity of nitroxyls under electrochemical or chemical activation. N-oxyls can also participate in selective C-H abstraction, and Chapter 5 reports the chemical and electrochemical activation of N-oxyls for radical-mediated C-H oxygenation of (hetero)arylmethanes. For these electrochemical transformations, the development of

Development of synthetic analysis program concerning on the safety of energy resources

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chang, S. H.; Choi, S. S.; Cheong, Y. H.; Ahn, S. H.; Chang, W. J. [Atomic Creative Technology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2007-03-15

Methodology development of synthetic analysis of energy resources: build system methodology of synthetic analysis of energy resources. Development of web-based enquete program, develop web-based enquete program to support synthetic analysis of energy resources. Aggregation Software development, develop AHP algorithm and aggregation software for the synthetic analysis of energy resources.

Chromatin regulation at the frontier of synthetic biology

Science.gov (United States)

Keung, Albert J.; Joung, J. Keith; Khalil, Ahmad S.; Collins, James J.

2016-01-01

As synthetic biology approaches are extended to diverse applications throughout medicine, biotechnology and basic biological research, there is an increasing need to engineer yeast, plant and mammalian cells. Eukaryotic genomes are regulated by the diverse biochemical and biophysical states of chromatin, which brings distinct challenges, as well as opportunities, over applications in bacteria. Recent synthetic approaches, including `epigenome editing', have allowed the direct and functional dissection of many aspects of physiological chromatin regulation. These studies lay the foundation for biomedical and biotechnological engineering applications that could take advantage of the unique combinatorial and spatiotemporal layers of chromatin regulation to create synthetic systems of unprecedented sophistication. PMID:25668787

Effect of the structure of commercial poly(ethylene oxide-b-propylene oxide demulsifier bases on the demulsification of water-in-crude oil emulsions: elucidation of the demulsification mechanism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

João Batista V. S. Ramalho

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Water-in-crude oil emulsions are formed during petroleum production and asphaltenes play an important role in their stabilization. Demulsifiers are added to destabilize such emulsions,however the demulsification mechanism is not completely known. In this paper, the performances of commercial poly(ethylene oxide-b-propylene oxide demulsifiers were studied using synthetic water-in-oil emulsions and model-systems (asphaltenes in organic solvent. No change in the asphaltene aggregate size induced by the demulsifier was observed. The demulsification performance decreased as the asphaltene aggregate size increased, so it can be suggested that the demulsification mechanism is correlated to the voids between the aggregates adsorbed on the water droplets surface.

Catalytic allylic oxidation of internal alkenes to a multifunctional chiral building block

Science.gov (United States)

Bayeh, Liela; Le, Phong Q.; Tambar, Uttam K.

2017-07-01

The stereoselective oxidation of hydrocarbons is one of the most notable advances in synthetic chemistry over the past fifty years. Inspired by nature, enantioselective dihydroxylations, epoxidations and other oxidations of unsaturated hydrocarbons have been developed. More recently, the catalytic enantioselective allylic carbon-hydrogen oxidation of alkenes has streamlined the production of pharmaceuticals, natural products, fine chemicals and other functional materials. Allylic functionalization provides a direct path to chiral building blocks with a newly formed stereocentre from petrochemical feedstocks while preserving the olefin functionality as a handle for further chemical elaboration. Various metal-based catalysts have been discovered for the enantioselective allylic carbon-hydrogen oxidation of simple alkenes with cyclic or terminal double bonds. However, a general and selective allylic oxidation using the more common internal alkenes remains elusive. Here we report the enantioselective, regioselective and E/Z-selective allylic oxidation of unactivated internal alkenes via a catalytic hetero-ene reaction with a chalcogen-based oxidant. Our method enables non-symmetric internal alkenes to be selectively converted into allylic functionalized products with high stereoselectivity and regioselectivity. Stereospecific transformations of the resulting multifunctional chiral building blocks highlight the potential for rapidly converting internal alkenes into a broad range of enantioenriched structures that can be used in the synthesis of complex target molecules.

What Are Synthetic Cannabinoids?

Science.gov (United States)

... years, synthetic cannabinoid mixtures have been easy to buy in drug paraphernalia shops, novelty stores, gas stations, and over ... abuse, authorities have made it illegal to sell, buy, or possess some of ... use is that standard drug tests cannot easily detect many of the chemicals ...

Preparation and biodistribution of {sup 59}Fe-radiolabelled iron oxide nanoparticles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pospisilova, Martina, E-mail: martinapospisilova@gmail.com; Zapotocky, Vojtech; Nesporova, Kristina [Contipro a.s (Czech Republic); Laznicek, Milan; Laznickova, Alice [Charles University, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové (Czech Republic); Zidek, Ondrej; Cepa, Martin; Vagnerova, Hana; Velebny, Vladimir [Contipro a.s (Czech Republic)

2017-02-15

We report on the {sup 59}Fe radiolabelling of iron oxide nanoparticle cores through post-synthetic isotope exchange ({sup 59}Fe-IONP{sub ex}) and precursor labelling ({sup 59}Fe-IONP{sub pre}). Scanning electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering measurements showed no impact of radiolabelling on nanoparticle size or morphology. While incorporation efficiencies of these methods are comparable—83 and 90% for precursor labelling and post-synthetic isotope exchange, respectively—{sup 59}Fe-IONP{sub pre} exhibited much higher radiochemical stability in citrated human plasma. Quantitative ex vivo biodistribution study of {sup 59}Fe-IONP{sub pre} coated with triethylene glycol was performed in Wistar rats. Following the intravenous administration, high {sup 59}Fe concentration was observed in the lung and the organs of the reticuloendothelial system such as the liver, the spleen and the femur.