Regulation and Prediction of Enzyme Activity in Reversed Micelles

The rate of cholesterol oxidation has been studied in cholesterol oxidase containing reversed micellar media consisting of the surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), the surfactant octanol, a buffered aqueous solution, and a variety of organic solvents. By varying the composition of the medium systematically it could be deduced that the rate of cholesterol oxidation obeys the same rules as described earlier for the conversion of apolar steroids by 20β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase in CTAB-hexanol-organic solvent reversed micelles (Hilhorst et al. 1984). The general applicability of these rules in optimizing biocatalysis in reversed micelles is discussed.     

药剂喷施饵木防治双条杉天牛成虫的试验

2007年3月在室内进行药效筛选试验,结果表明,阿维·毒、毒死蜱、高效氯氟氰菊酯3种药剂喷施侧柏饵木均能杀死双条杉天牛成虫,毒死蜱作用最快,5d完全死亡率达到94.7%。2008年3月选用高效氯氰菊酯、阿维菌素·毒死蜱、丙溴磷进行了野外试验,结果表明,3种不同药剂防治效果差异显著,同种药剂不同浓度之间防治效果差异不显著,高效氯氰菊酯2000倍液效果最好。喷施高效氯氰菊酯、阿维菌素·毒死蜱不影响饵木的诱集效果。丙溴磷对饵木引诱效果产生影响,其机制机值得得进一步探讨。     

Growth Phase and the Number of Phosphorylation Sites in the Mitochondrial Electron Transport Chain of Acanthamoeba castellanii

SYNOPSIS. Mitochondria isolated from the soil ameba Acanthamoeba castellanii growing exponentially on complex medium have rotenone-insensitive oxygen uptake and ADP:O ratios which indicate the presence of only 2 phosphorylation sites in the electron transport chain. Stationary phase amebae yield mitochondria which are sensitive to inhibition by rotenone when respiring NAD⁺-Minked substrates and have 3 sites of phosphorylation. The levels of cytochromes (a + a ₃), b , and c are similar in mitochondria isolated from log or stationary phase amebae, and, with the exception of succinate, the respiratory rates obtained with different substrates do not change significantly from log to stationary growth phase.     

红壤水分条件对温州蜜柑果实生长与产量的影响

以宫川温州蜜柑(Citrus unshiu Marc. cv. Miyagawa Wase)橘树为材料,于2003—2004年利用土壤水分探头实时监测柑橘果实膨大期的红壤水分,研究了红壤相对含水量（RSM）对柑橘果实生长及产量构成因子的影响。结果表明：RSM由30%增加到90%,柑橘果实纵径和横径均递增,而纵径/横径比值则递减,周累积果实增量纵径（1.60～1.74 cm）<横径（1.95～2.26 cm）,红壤水分降低对柑橘果实纵向膨大限制影响大于横径;果实产量构成因子呈抛物线趋势变化,且RSM为75%时达到最大值。综合柑橘果实生长及其产量构成因子,RSM在75%时最利于柑橘果实生长及高产。     

Spectrofluorimetric study on fluorescence quenching of tyrosine and l‐tryptophan by the aniracetam cognition enhancer drug: quenching mechanism using Stern–Volmer and double‐log plots

A novel approach on fluorescence quenching of tyrosine and l ‐tryptophan is presented for spectrofluorimetric determination of aniracetam in drug substances and products. The quenching mechanism was investigated using Stern–Volmer plots and ultraviolet spectra figures of quencher–fluorophore mixtures. Binding constant and stoichiometry were calculated using double‐log plots. The spectrofluorimetric method was optimized for the experimental conditions affecting fluorescence quenching including fluorophore concentration, diluent, and reaction time. Moreover, the pH‐rate profile of aniracetam was studied using simple kinetics and found to be stable within the pH range 5–8. Fluorescence quenching of tyrosine and l ‐tryptophan were observed on addition of aniracetam in aqueous medium at pH 5.5–6.5. Aniracetam quenched the fluorescence of tyrosine and l ‐tryptophan in the concentration range 1–20 μg/ml and 0.3–20 μg/ml, respectively, with binomial relationships between quenching values (ΔF) and aniracetam concentration. Limits of detection were found to be 0.10 μg/ml for tyrosine–aniracetam and 0.14 μg/ml for l ‐tryptophan–aniracetam. Method validation was performed as per ICH guidelines and demonstrated that the developed spectrofluorimetric method was accurate, precise, specific, and suitable for analysis of aniracetam in routine quality control laboratories. All experimental materials and solvents used are eco‐friendly, indicating that the cited spectrofluorimetric procedure is an excellent green method.     

Understanding reproductive allometry in turtles: A slippery “slope”

Measures of reproductive output in turtles are generally positively correlated with female body size. However, a full understanding of reproductive allometry in turtles requires logarithmic transformation of reproductive and body size variables prior to regression analyses. This allows for slope comparisons with expected linear or cubic relationships for linear to linear and linear to volumetric variables, respectively. We compiled scaling data using this approach from published and unpublished turtle studies (46 populations of 25 species from eight families) to quantify patterns among taxa. Our results suggest that for log–log comparisons of clutch size, egg width, egg mass, clutch mass, and pelvic aperture width to shell length, all scale hypoallometrically despite theoretical predictions of isometry. Clutch size generally scaled at ~1.7 to 2.0 (compared to an isometric expectation of 3.0), egg width at ~0.5 (compared to an expectation of 1.0), egg mass at ~1.1 to 1.3 (3.0), clutch mass at ~2.5 to 2.8 (3.0), and pelvic aperture width at 0.8–0.9 (1.0). We also found preliminary evidence that scaling may differ across years and clutches even in the same population, as well as across populations of the same species. Future investigators should aspire to collect data on all these reproductive parameters and to report log–log allometric analyses to test our preliminary conclusions regarding reproductive allometry in turtles.