Purification and properties of dihydroxyacetone reductase and 2,3-butanediol dehydrogenase from Candida utilis CBS 621

Candida utilis CBS 621 contained four different enzymes capable of reducing carbonyl compounds such as dihydroxyacetone, acetoin, diacetyl, acetol, methylglyoxal and acetone, namely alcohol dehydrogenase, acetone reductase, dihydroxyacetone reductase and 2,3-butanediol dehydrogenase. The dihydroxyacetone reductase of C. utilis did not oxidize glycerol, thus providing evidence that this enzyme cannot function as a glycerol-2-dehydrogenase during growth of the yeast on glycerol. This enzyme may, however, play a role in the assimilation of 2,3-butanediol by C. utilis. The organism also contained a separate 2,3-butanediol dehydrogenase which was unable to reduce dihydroxyacetone. Both dihydroxyacetone reductase and 2,3-butanediol dehydrogenase were present at very high activities during growth of C. utilis on a variety of substrates, including 2,3-butanediol.     

Soil-catalyzed polymerization of phenolics in polluted waters

Some biotic and abiotic soil components are able to catalyze phenol oxidation, producing water-insoluble polymers. In phenol-polluted water bodies, this phenomenon could be exploited to prevent phenol dispersion. The reaction kinetics of phenol polymerization catalyzed by soil samples drawn from unsaturated and aquifer layers was measured in slurry, aerated batch reactors. Catechol was used as a model phenol. The observed catalytic activity is essentially abiotic and can be attributed to inorganic soil components. The rate of phenol removal is first-order with respect to both catechol and soil concentration. Soil activity towards other phenolic compounds was tested, as well. Diphenols show the highest reactivity. Comparisons were performed with the enzymatic activity of phenol oxidases-containing mushroom tissues whose use has been envisaged in the treatment of phenol-polluted waters. The use of phenol oxidases can complement the intrinsic activity of soil for the removal of recalcitrant phenols.     

A versatile microwave plethysmograph for the monitoring of physiological parameters

A simple microwave technique for in vivo monitoring of human pulmonary and cardiac activity is here presented. The technique is based on detecting the changes in the modulation envelope of amplitude modulated waves passing through the human body. A simplified human chest model was developed, proving an unambiguous correlation between heart blood filling and microwave transmission through the chest. A prototype system for transmittance measurement was realized at the 868.5-MHz operating frequency, demonstrating the feasibility of a small, lowcost microwave plethysmograph. In vivo measurements showed a good agreement with numerical simulations.     

Proximity, Polarization, and Local Labor Market Performances

Recently, a new methodological approach to empirics of economic dynamics based on nonparametric analysis has been proposed. The approach contemplates the presence of mechanisms of polarization and spatial linkage affecting the spatial characteristics of growth that are ruled out by the basic neoclassical approach while being the starting point of core-periphery models. A nonparametric investigation on the geographical distribution of local labor markets performances in Italy is presented, summarized by the employment rate. The analysis provides empirical support to the prediction that the behavior of the entire cross-section distribution of Italian employment rate can be mainly explained by proximity, and therefore by spatial spillover. The analysis is carried out on a very disaggregated territorial level: the area units considered are the 784 Local Labour Systems (LLSs), defined as travel-to-works areas by the National Statistical Institute (Istat). The basic idea is that distribution dynamics changes whenever conditioned with respect to spatial closeness of LLSs. I investigated the distribution dynamics of employment rate in LLSs over the 1971 to 1996 period by using transition matrices and the stochastic kernel approach. The results show that the employment rate distribution across LLSs has a strong polarization, but it vanishes if it is conditioned to the closer neighbors' employment rate. The analysis suggests that the local labor market performances inside Italy do not present strong territorial discontinuities. This is related to the geographical position of the country with respect to the relevant markets, and it is consistent with the predictions of the core-periphery model.     

A performance study of four index structures for set-valued attributes of low cardinality

The efficient retrieval of data items on set-valued attributes is an important research topic that has attracted little attention so far. We studied and modified four index structures (sequential signature files, signature trees, extendible signature hashing, and inverted files) for a fast retrieval of sets with low cardinality. We compared the index structures by implementing them and subjecting them to extensive experiments, investigating the influence of query set size, database size, domain size, and data distribution (synthetic and real). The results of the experiments clearly indicate that inverted files exhibit the best overall behavior of all tested index structures.Received: 0 May 2000, Accepted: 18 October 2000, Published online: 17 September 2003Edited by E. Bertino     

Oil mobility in a saturated water-wetted bed of glass beads

The mobilization of an oil bank in a packed bed of glass beads saturated with an aqueous phase has been studied both theoretically and experimentally. The size of the glass beads was varied in the range between 0.5 and 5mm. Two oils (hexadecane and hexane) with viscosities different for an order of magnitude and densities smaller than that of water have been used. A few more runs have been carried out using perchloroethylene (PCE), with density greater than that of water. The interfacial tension in the aqueous phase was varied in a quite large range (0.38-39.1 dyn/cm) by adding surfactants to the water. The glass assembly made it possible to follow the evolution of the dyed oily phase by the use of a digital camera. A very simple stochastic model for describing the porous structure of the packed bed made it possible to set a criterion for determining the probability of mobilization of ganglia which are produced by the fragmentation of the oil bank. The same model permits also to estimate the probability function of the velocity of a ganglion of an assigned size.     

Radiation initiated grafting on fluoro polymers I. Grafting of N-vinylpyrrolidone on poly(vinyl fluoride) by accelerated electrons

The radiation initiated grafting of N-vinylpyrrolidone on poly(vinyl fluoride) films by means of accelerated electrons using the preirradiation technique in vacuo has been investigated. The time conversion curves showed a steady increase of the initial grafting rate with temperature whereas the saturation grafting yield passes a maximum around 333 K. The Arrhenius plot reveals two straight lines with different slope intersecting around 328 K. Two different overall activation energies are found: 248 kJ mol^?1 for grafting below this temperature and 65 kJ mol^?1 for grafting above this temperature. This behaviour presumably is correlated to a glass transition of the trunk polymer arising from amorphous material under restraint by crystallites. The grafting yield is independent on the dose rate but strongly dependent on the dose. The penetration of the grafting front into the trunk polymer film was quantitatively followed by “Differential Interference Contrast”-microscopy: For any grafting yield the penetration depth of the grafting front increases with decreasing dose. The higher the dose, the higher the grafting yield to achieve grafting through. For a given dose increasing temperature shortens the time to obtain grafting through. On the basis of these experimental results a model was derived to explain the graft kinetics.