Spontaneous formation of gold microplates during reduction‐coupled removal of noble metals using Dowex M4195 resin

The present work reports the novel phenomenon of spontaneous formation of gold microplates. The effect is observed as a consequence of , , , and sorption on the Dowex M4195 resin. Therefore an attempt to explain the phenomenon mechanism is made. The research is covering sorption, kinetic and thermodynamic studies. The shapes of formed gold single plates are determined. The uptakes of Au(III), Pt(IV), Pd(II), and Re(VII) tests have been conducted using a batch method from single‐component metals solutions in 0.1M HCl. The sorption‐reduction phenomenon has been assessed by executed SEM, FTIR, XRD, and XPS studies. The greatest sorption capacity, combined with reduction‐coupled removal phenomenon, has been achieved for gold (5.5 mmol Au·g^?1 at 9°C). Executed SEM and XRD analyzes prove formation of gold single crystals during present process, furthermore reduction of rhenium is indicated by XPS analysis. Based on the obtained FTIR and Raman's spectra, the reduction phenomenon is probably followed by resins’ functional groups oxidation. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42425.     

Synthesis and Investigations of Building Blocks with Dibenzo[b,f] Oxepine for Use in Photopharmacology

The synthesis of photoswitchable azo-dibenzo[b,f]oxepine derivatives and microtubule inhibitors were described. Subsequently, we examined the reaction of methoxy derivative 3-nitrodibenzo[b,f]oxepine with different aldehydes and in the presence of BF₃·OEt₂ as a catalyst. Our study provided a very concise method for the construction of the azo-dibenzo[b,f]oxepine skeleton. The analysis of products was run using experimental and theoretical methods. Next, we evaluated the E/Z isomerization of azo-dibenzo[b,f]oxepine derivatives, which could be photochemically controlled using visible-wavelength light.     

Oxo-Titanium(IV) Complex/Polymer Composites—Synthesis,Spectroscopic Characterization and Antimicrobial Activity Test

The emergence of a large number of bacterial strains resistant to many drugs or disinfectants currently used contributed to the search of new, more effective antimicrobial agents. In the presented paper, we assessed the microbiocidal activity of tri- and tetranuclear oxo-titanium(IV) complexes (TOCs), which were dispersed in the poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) matrix. The TOCs were synthesized in reaction to Ti(OR)₄ (R = ⁱPr, ⁱBu) and HO₂CR’ (R’ = 4-PhNH₂ and 4-PhOH) in a 4:1 molar ratio at room temperature and in Ar atmosphere. The structure of isolated oxo-complexes was confirmed by IR and Raman spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The antimicrobial activity of the produced composites (PMMA + TOCs) was estimated against Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 and S. aureus ATCC 25923) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli ATCC 8739 and E. coli ATCC 25922) bacteria and yeasts of Candida albicans ATCC 10231. All produced composites showed biocidal activity against the bacteria. Composites containing {Ti₄O₂} cores and the {Ti₃O} core stabilized by the 4-hydroxybenzoic ligand showed also high activity against yeasts. The results of investigations carried out suggest that produced (PMMA + TOCs) composites, due to their microbiocidal activity, could find an application in the elimination of microbial contaminations in various fields of our lives.     

Rheological Studies on Potato Starch Pastes at Low Concentrations. Part III: Simplified Measurements of Absolute Characteristics of Pasting

Results of measurements of pasting characteristics of starch which are carried out in the rotatory viscometer with co-axial cylinders may be expressed in absolute viscosity units. The measurements can significantly be simplified if the rotor of the construction presented in this paper is applied. The rotor may play the role of a stirrer and the measurement cylinder at the same time. The work conditions (stirring - measurement) may be alternated, without any additional manipulations in the measurement system, only by a change of a angular velocity of the rotor. The rotor of the construction presented here can be also useful in rheology measurements of dispersion which sedimentates.     

New Core-Shell Nanostructures for FRET Studies: Synthesis,Characterization, and Quantitative Analysis

This work describes the synthesis and characterization of new core-shell material designed for Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) studies. Synthesis, structural and optical properties of core-shell nanostructures with a large number of two kinds of fluorophores bound to the shell are presented. As fluorophores, strongly fluorescent rhodamine 101 and rhodamine 110 chloride were selected. The dyes exhibit significant spectral overlap between acceptor absorption and donor emission spectra, which enables effective FRET. Core-shell nanoparticles strongly differing in the ratio of donors to acceptor numbers were prepared. This leads to two different interesting cases: typical single-step FRET or multistep energy migration preceding FRET. The single-step FRET model that was designed and presented by some of us recently for core-shell nanoparticles is herein experimentally verified. Very good agreement between the analytical expression for donor fluorescence intensity decay and experimental data was obtained, which confirmed the correctness of the model. Multistep energy migration between donors preceding the final transfer to the acceptor can also be successfully described. In this case, however, experimental data are compared with the results of Monte Carlo simulations, as there is no respective analytical expression. Excellent agreement in this more general case evidences the usefulness of this numerical method in the design and prediction of the properties of the synthesized core-shell nanoparticles labelled with multiple and chemically different fluorophores.     

BioS2Net: Holistic Structural and Sequential Analysis of Biomolecules Using a Deep Neural Network

Background: For decades, the rate of solving new biomolecular structures has been exceeding that at which their manual classification and feature characterisation can be carried out efficiently. Therefore, a new comprehensive and holistic tool for their examination is needed. Methods: Here we propose the Biological Sequence and Structure Network (BioS2Net), which is a novel deep neural network architecture that extracts both sequential and structural information of biomolecules. Our architecture consists of four main parts: (i) a sequence convolutional extractor, (ii) a 3D structure extractor, (iii) a 3D structure-aware sequence temporal network, as well as (iv) a fusion and classification network. Results: We have evaluated our approach using two protein fold classification datasets. BioS2Net achieved a 95.4% mean class accuracy on the eDD dataset and a 76% mean class accuracy on the F184 dataset. The accuracy of BioS2Net obtained on the eDD dataset was comparable to results achieved by previously published methods, confirming that the algorithm described in this article is a top-class solution for protein fold recognition. Conclusions: BioS2Net is a novel tool for the holistic examination of biomolecules of known structure and sequence. It is a reliable tool for protein analysis and their unified representation as feature vectors.     

Recent advancements in the application of non-thermal plasma technology for the seafood industry

Abstract

Non-thermal plasma (NTP) is one of the most promising minimal processing methods for the food industry. However up until recently there are limited studies which would report the application and effect of NTP on processed seafood. The objective of this review is to highlight the recent findings and advancements in the application of NTP within the fish and other seafood industry, including direct application of fresh and dried fish and seafood with as well as indirect application of plasma activated water and seafood industry wastewater purification. The article also summarizes the effect of plasma treatment on microbiological quality, physicochemical and sensory properties and oxidation rate of treated fish and seafood. NTP has high potential to be used within various fields of seafood industry. It is especially effective in treatment of dried seafood products, but the use of plasma activated water during various processing steps such as seafood washing could be also beneficial. Moreover NTP could also be used as a cost effective and environmentally friendly method for seafood wastewater purification.     

Plasma Proteomic Profile of Patients with Tick-Borne Encephalitis and Co-Infections

Despite the increasing number of patients suffering from tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), Lyme disease, and their co-infection, the mechanisms of the development of these diseases and their effects on the human body are still unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the changes in the proteomic profile of human plasma induced by the development of TBE and to compare it with changes in TBE patients co-infected with other tick-borne pathogens. The results obtained by proteomic analysis using a nanoLC-Q Exactive HF mass spectrometer showed that the most highly elevated groups of proteins in the plasma of TBE patients with co-infection were involved in the pro-inflammatory response and protein degradation, while the antioxidant proteins and factors responsible for protein biosynthesis were mainly downregulated. These results were accompanied by enhanced GSH- and 4-HNE-protein adducts formation, observed in TBE and co-infected patients at a higher level than in the case of patients with only TBE. In conclusion, the differences in the proteomic profiles between patients with TBE and co-infected patients indicate that these diseases are significantly diverse and, consequently, require different treatment, which is particularly important for further research, including the development of novel diagnostics tools.