1,232,617 research outputs found
Construction and Software Design for a Microcomputer Controlled pH/Ion Titrator
The construction of an automated titration device is described. The major components include an Apple II+ Microcomputer and 8-bit parallel interface. Fisher Accumet, Model 520 Digital pH/lon Meter, Gilmont Micrometer Buret of 2.5 mL capacity, Sigma stepper motor, power supply and driver to operate the buret, and a constant temperature bath of ± 0.005 °C stability. The limitations of the system are 0.001 pH/0.1 mv for the pH/ion sensing system, and 0.125 μL per step for the buret. The system as described is designed to determine equilibrium constants for metal ion-amino acid complexes. By changing the software a variety of different pH and redox titration experiments may be performed. A computer program used to operate the stepper motor driven syringe buret and record the pH from a digital pH meter is described. The program uses both Apple BASIC and assembly language. This is a closed loop operation in which the data from the pH meter is used to control the amount of reagent delivered by the buret. The results are displayed graphically as the titration proceeds. The variance of the pH readings are calculated using an assembly language subroutine and the calculations are done with zero round-off error
A system-on-chip digital pH meter for use in a wireless diagnostic capsule
This paper describes the design and implementation of a system-on-chip digital pH meter, for use in a wireless capsule application. The system is organized around an 8-bit microcontroller, designed to be functionally identical to the Motorola 6805. The analog subsystem contains a floating-electrode ISFET, which is fully compatible with a commercial CMOS process. On-chip programmable voltage references and multiplexors permit flexibility with the minimum of external connections. The chip is designed in a modular fashion to facilitate verification and component re-use. The single-chip pH meter can be directly connected to a personal computer, and gives a response of 37 bits/pH, within an operating range of 7 pH units
Biochemical and spectroscopic properties of Brucella microti glutamate decarboxylase, a key component of the glutamate-dependent acid resistance system
In orally acquired bacteria, the ability to counteract extreme acid stress (pH < 2.5) ensures survival during transit through the animal host stomach. In several neutralophilic bacteria, the glutamate-dependent acid resistance system (GDAR) is the most efficient molecular system in conferring protection from acid stress. In Escherichia coli its structural components are either of the two glutamate decarboxylase isoforms (GadA, GadB) and the antiporter, GadC, which imports glutamate and exports γ-aminobutyrate, the decarboxylation product. The system works by consuming protons intracellularly, as part of the decarboxylation reaction, and exporting positive charges via the antiporter. Herein, biochemical and spectroscopic properties of GadB from Brucella microti (BmGadB), a Brucella species which possesses GDAR, are described. B. microti belongs to a group of lately described and atypical brucellae that possess functional gadB and gadC genes, unlike the most well-known "classical" Brucella species, which include important human pathogens. BmGadB is hexameric at acidic pH. The pH-dependent spectroscopic properties and activity profile, combined with in silico sequence comparison with E. coli GadB (EcGadB), suggest that BmGadB has the necessary structural requirements for the binding of activating chloride ions at acidic pH and for the closure of its active site at neutral pH. On the contrary, cellular localization analysis, corroborated by sequence inspection, suggests that BmGadB does not undergo membrane recruitment at acidic pH, which was observed in EcGadB. The comparison of GadB from evolutionary distant microorganisms suggests that for this enzyme to be functional in GDAR some structural features must be preserved
Theory of tunable pH sensitive vesicles of anionic and cationic lipids or anionic and neutral lipids
The design of vesicles which become unstable at an easily tuned value of pH
is of great interest for targeted drug delivery. We present a microscopic
theory for two forms of such vesicles. A model of lipids introduced by us
previously is applied to a system of ionizable, anionic lipid, and permanently
charged, cationic lipid. We calculate the pH at which the lamellar phase
becomes unstable with respect to an inverted hexagonal one, a value which
depends continuously on the system composition. Identifying this instability
with that displayed by unilamellar vesicles undergoing fusion, we obtain very
good agreement with the recent experimental data of Hafez et al., Biophys. J.
2000 79: 1438-1446, on the pH at which fusion occurs vs. vesicle composition.
We explicate the mechanism in terms of the role of the counter ions. This
understanding suggests that a system of a neutral, non lamellar forming lipid
stabilized by an anionic lipid would serve equally well for preparing tunable,
pH sensitive vesicles. Our calculations confirm this. Further, we show that
both forms of vesicle have the desirable feature of exhibiting a regime in
which the pH at instability is a rapidly varying function of the vesicle
composition.Comment: five figures, to appear in Biophys.
Electron-Acoustic Phonon Energy Loss Rate in Multi-Component Electron Systems with Symmetric and Asymmetric Coupling Constants
We consider electron-phonon (\textit{e-ph}) energy loss rate in 3D and 2D
multi-component electron systems in semiconductors. We allow general asymmetry
in the \textit{e-ph} coupling constants (matrix elements), i.e., we allow that
the coupling depends on the electron sub-system index. We derive a
multi-component \textit{e-ph}power loss formula, which takes into account the
asymmetric coupling and links the total \textit{e-ph} energy loss rate to the
density response matrix of the total electron system. We write the density
response matrix within mean field approximation, which leads to coexistence of\
symmetric energy loss rate and asymmetric energy loss rate
with total energy loss rate at temperature
. The symmetric component F_{S}(T) F_{S}(T)\propto T^{n_{S}}n_{S}F_{A}(T). Screening strongly
reduces the symmetric coupling, but the asymmetric coupling is unscreened,
provided that the inter-sub-system Coulomb interactions are strong. The lack of
screening enhances and the total energy loss rate .
Especially, in the strong screening limit we find . A
canonical example of strongly asymmetric \textit{e-ph} matrix elements is the
deformation potential coupling in many-valley semiconductors.Comment: v2: Typos corrected. Some notations changed. Section III.C is
embedded in Section III.B. Paper accepted to PR
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