Preparation and some properties of cholesterol oxidase from Rhodococcus sp. R14-2

Rhodococcus sp. R14-2, isolated from Chinese Jin-hua ham, produces a novel extracellular cholesterol oxidase (COX). The enzyme was extracted from fermentation broth and purified 53.1-fold based on specific activity. The purified enzyme shows a single polypeptide band on SDS-PAGE with an estimated molecular weight of about 60 kDa, and has a pI of 8.5. The first 10 amino acid residues of the NH2-terminal sequence of the enzyme are A-P-P-V-A-S-C-R-Y-C, which differs from other known COXs. The enzyme is stable over a rather wide pH range of 4.0¿10.0. The optimum pH and temperature of the COX are pH 7.0 and 50°C, respectively. The COX rapidly oxidizes 3ß-hydroxysteroids such as cholesterol and phytosterols, but is inert toward 3¿-hydroxysteroids. Thus, the presence of a 3ß-hydroxyl group appears to be essential for substrate activity. The Michaelis constant (Km) for cholesterol is estimated at 55 ¿M; the COX activity was markedly inhibited by metal ions such as Hg2+ and Fe3+ and inhibitors such as p-chloromercuric benzoate, mercaptoethanol and fenpropimorph. Inhibition caused by p-chloromercuric benzoate, mercuric chloride, or silver nitrate was almost completely prevented by the addition of glutathione. These suggests that -SH groups may be involved in the catalytic activity of the present CO

High quality GaMnAs films grown with As dimers

We demonstrate that GaMnAs films grown with As2 have excellent structural, electrical and magnetic properties, comparable or better than similar films grown with As4. Using As2, a Curie temperature of 112K has been achieved, which is slightly higher than the best reported to date. More significantly, films showing metallic conduction have been obtained over a much wider range of Mn concentrations (from 1.5% to 8%) than has been reported for films grown with As4. The improved properties of the films grown with As2 are related to the lower concentration of antisite defects at the low growth temperatures employed.Comment: 8 pages, accepted for publication in J. Crystal Growt

Optical response of metal nanoparticle chains

We study the optical responses of metal nanoparticle chains. Multiple scattering calculations are used to study the extinction cross sections of silver nanosphere chains of finite length embedded in a glass matrix. The transmission and reflection coefficients of periodic 2D arrays of silver nanospheres are also calculated to understand the interaction between nanoparticle chains. The results are in agreement with recent experiments. The splitting of plasmon-resonance modes for different polarizations of the incident light are explored. Results on the effect of disorder are also presented.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure

Multiple superconducting gap and anisotropic spin fluctuations in iron arsenides: Comparison with nickel analog

We present extensive 75As NMR and NQR data on the superconducting arsenides PrFeAs0.89F0.11 (Tc=45 K), LaFeAsO0.92F0.08 (Tc=27 K), LiFeAs (Tc = 17 K) and Ba0.72K0.28Fe2As2 (Tc = 31.5 K) single crystal, and compare with the nickel analog LaNiAsO0.9F0.1 (Tc=4.0 K) . In contrast to LaNiAsO0.9F0.1 where the superconducting gap is shown to be isotropic, the spin lattice relaxation rate 1/T1 in the Fe-arsenides decreases below Tc with no coherence peak and shows a step-wise variation at low temperatures. The Knight shift decreases below Tc and shows a step-wise T variation as well. These results indicate spinsinglet superconductivity with multiple gaps in the Fe-arsenides. The Fe antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations are anisotropic and weaker compared to underdoped copper-oxides or cobalt-oxide superconductors, while there is no significant electron correlations in LaNiAsO0.9F0.1. We will discuss the implications of these results and highlight the importance of the Fermi surface topology.Comment: 6 pages, 11 figure

Dynamics of the self-interacting chameleon cosmology

In this article we study the properties of the flat FRW chameleon cosmology in which the cosmic expansion of the Universe is affected by the chameleon field and dark energy. In particular, we perform a detailed examination of the model in the light of numerical analysis. The results illustrate that the interacting chameleon filed plays an important role in late time universe acceleration and phantom crossing.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, to appear in Astrophysics and Space Sc

Half-metallicity and Slater-Pauling behavior in the ferromagnetic Heusler alloys

Introductory chapter for the book "Halfmetallic Alloys - Fundamentals and Applications" to be published in the series Springer Lecture Notes on Physics, P. H. Dederichs and I. Galanakis (eds). It contains a review of the theoretical work on the half-metallic Heusler alloys.Comment: Introductory chapter for the book "Halfmetallic Alloys - Fundamentals and Applications" to be published in the series Springer Lecture Notes on Physics, P. H. Dederichs and I. Galanakis (eds

A kinetic study of the formation of smectic phases in novel liquid crystal ionogens

A multi-rate non-isothermal kinetic analysis of the isotropic-melt to liquid crystalline phase transition of novel liquid crystalline ionogenic copolymers, LCIs, the 10-(4-methoxyazobenzene-4′-oxy)decyl methacrylate]-co-2-(acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid)s, 10-MeOAzB/AMPS, copolymers, has been performed by means of calorimetric experiments. An analytical methodology which includes the study of the phase transition rate parameter, the determination of the activation energies by using Kissinger and Flynn-Wall-Ozawa models, and the study of the phase transition kinetics by the use of the Avrami theory, has been applied. The formation of the mesophases from the isotropic state occurred close to thermodynamic equilibrium. The results evidence the presence of several individual processes in the formation of liquid crystalline phases from the melt and a strong dependence of phase transition rates and activation energies with acid contents. A decrease in the phase transition rate, related to a decrease in the overall change of the transition entropy, has been observed. The final inhibition of the liquid crystal (LC) behaviour is ascribed to an exponential increase in the activation energy of the phase transition, promoted by strong acid aggregation. An optimum composition of the 10-MeOAzB/AMPS copolymers to achieve the dual characteristics of LCIs (ionogenic and liquid crystalline behaviour) requires acid concentrations capable of promoting structure-forming effects on the LC phases and the evolution of phase separated morphologies

Superhard Phases of Simple Substances and Binary Compounds of the B-C-N-O System: from Diamond to the Latest Results (a Review)

The basic known and hypothetic one- and two-element phases of the B-C-N-O system (both superhard phases having diamond and boron structures and precursors to synthesize them) are described. The attention has been given to the structure, basic mechanical properties, and methods to identify and characterize the materials. For some phases that have been recently described in the literature the synthesis conditions at high pressures and temperatures are indicated.Comment: Review on superhard B-C-N-O phase

Anomalous Heat Conduction and Anomalous Diffusion in Low Dimensional Nanoscale Systems

Thermal transport is an important energy transfer process in nature. Phonon is the major energy carrier for heat in semiconductor and dielectric materials. In analogy to Ohm's law for electrical conductivity, Fourier's law is a fundamental rule of heat transfer in solids. It states that the thermal conductivity is independent of sample scale and geometry. Although Fourier's law has received great success in describing macroscopic thermal transport in the past two hundreds years, its validity in low dimensional systems is still an open question. Here we give a brief review of the recent developments in experimental, theoretical and numerical studies of heat transport in low dimensional systems, include lattice models, nanowires, nanotubes and graphenes. We will demonstrate that the phonon transports in low dimensional systems super-diffusively, which leads to a size dependent thermal conductivity. In other words, Fourier's law is breakdown in low dimensional structures