The Gabriel-Colman rearrangement in biological systems: design, synthesis and biological evaluation of phthalimide and saccharin derivatives as potential mechanism-based inhibitors of human leukocyte elastase, cathepsin G and proteinase 3

Metal ion-promoted binding of Saccharomyces cerevisiae alcohol dehydrogenase to Cibacron Blue 3GA was used for its isolation by affinity precipitation with Eudragit-bound dye. The yeast cells were broken and the cell debris was separated by flocculation with poly(ethylene imine). The supernatant containing the enzyme activity was mixed with Eudragit--Cibacron Blue in the presence of zinc ions. The precipitation of the affinity complex was induced by the addition of 50 mM CaCl2 and a subsequent increase in temperature to 40 degrees C. The enzyme was desorbed by treating the precipitate with iminodiacetic acid solution. The procedure resulted in about 66% recovery of enzyme activity with more than 20-fold purification. Recycling of Eudragit--dye for enzyme purification was also shown to be possible.     

Comparative evaluation of macrodilution and alamar colorimetric microdilution broth methods for antifungal susceptibility testing of yeast isolates

A comparative evaluation of the macrodilution method and the Alamar colorimetric method for the susceptibility testing of amphotericin B, fluconazole, and flucytosine was conducted with 134 pathogenic yeasts. The clinical isolates included 28 Candida albicans, 17 Candida tropicalis, 15 Candida parapsilosis, 12 Candida krusei, 10 Candida lusitaniae, 9 Candida guilliermondii, 18 Torulopsis glabrata, and 25 Cryptococcus neoformans isolates. The macrodilution method was performed and interpreted according to the recommendations of the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (document M27-P), and the Alamar colorimetric method was performed according to the manufacturer's instructions. For the Alamar colorimetric method, MICs were determined at 24 and 48 h of incubation for Candida species and T. glabrata and at 48 and 72 h of incubation for C. neoformans. The overall agreement within +/- 1 dilution for Candida species and T. glabrata against the three antifungal agents was generally good, with the values for amphotericin B, fluconazole, and flucytosine being 85.3, 77.9, and 86.2%, respectively, at the 24-h readings and 69.3, 65.2, and 97.2%, respectively, at the 48-h readings. Most disagreement was noted with fluconazole against C. tropicalis and T. glabrata. Our studies indicate that determination of MICs at 24 h by the Alamar colorimetric method is a valid alternate method for testing amphotericin B, fluconazole, and flucytosine against Candida species but not for testing fluconazole against C. tropicalis and T. glabrata. For flucytosine, much better agreement can be demonstrated against Candida species and T. glabrata at the 48-h readings by the Alamar method. Excellent agreement within +/- dilution can also be observed for amphotericin B, fluconazole, and flucytosine (80, 96, and 96%, respectively) against c. neoformans when the MICs were determined at 72 h by the Alamar method.     

Adsorption of polyacrylamide on zirconium dioxide

The adsorption of an anionic-type polyelectrolyte (polyacrylamide) onto zirconium dioxide from aqueous dispersion has been studied as a function of pH. Polymer adsorption takes place in the acid region, obeying a Langmuir-type isotherm. Adsorption decreases with increasing pH. The zero-point of charge (zpc) at the ZrO₂–H₂O interface and the nature of the ionic charge on the polymer molecules were investigated. The behavior of polymer attachment is discussed on the grounds of a nonionic bonding mechanism including H bonding and of electrostatic interaction. It has been found that the zpc of ZrO₂ is at pH ～3.5 and that the ionic properties of the polymer molecules depend, to a noticeable extent, upon the pH of the medium.     

Synchrotron X-ray reflectivity study of high dielectric constant alumina thin films prepared by atomic layer deposition

High dielectric constant (high-k) gate dielectric alumina films were prepared with nanoscale thicknesses on p-type silicon substrates by atomic layer deposition (ALD) with alternating pulses of trimethyl aluminum, nitrogen, ozone and nitrogen, and some of them were further thermally annealed. These high-k gate dielectric films were characterized by synchrotron X-ray reflectivity (XR), and the XR data were quantitatively analyzed, providing the following structural parameters of each gate dielectric film: the surface roughness and interfacial roughness, the electron density profile, the number of layers, and the thickness of individual layers. These structural characteristics were then analyzed in detail by considering the ALD processing conditions and post-thermal annealing history.     

Mechanism of Work-hardening for Austenitic Manganese Steel under Non-severe Impact Loading Conditions

The effect of C,Mn and heat-treatment onwork-hardening of austenitic Mn steel and thework-hardening mechanism have been investigatedunder non-severe impact loading condition.Theresults show that the ability of work-hardening in-creases with the increase of C and aging tempera-ture but decreases with Mn.The work-hardeningwith high austenitic stability results mainly fromdislocations,and that with low austenitic stabilityresults mainly from combined effects of strain-in-duced martensite and high density of dislocationsunder non-severe impact loading conditions.Thewear resistance of medium manganese steel (Mn7)is 1.64-2.46 times that of Hadfield steel (Mnl3).     

Hydrogenation of nitriles with iridium-triphenylphosphine complexes

Reactions of cationic iridium(I)-COD (COD = 1,5-cyclooctadiene) complexes, [Ir(COD)(PhCN)(PPh₃)]ClO₄ (1), [Ir(COD)(PPh₃)₂]ClO₄ (2) and [Ir(COD)(PhCN)₂]ClO₄ (3) with nitriles under H₂ catalytically produce primary, secondary and tertiary amines. Hydrogenation of nitriles (RCN) gives HCl salts of amines (RCH₂NH₂HCl, (RCH₂)₂NH HCl) in CH₂Cl₂. Secondary and tertiary amines seem to be produced by the reactions of RCN with primary and secondary amines, respectively under H₂ in the presence of catalysts. The hydrogenation in the presence of1 and2 is homogeneously catalyzed by soluble iridium-PPh₃ complexes formed in the reactions of1 and2 with H₂ and RCN whereas the hydrogenation in the presence of3 is heterogeneous by metallic iridium powders produced in the reduction of3 by H₂.