Galactosyltransferase of Neurospora

Summary An enzyme, galactosyltransferase, able to catalyze the formation of galactose polymers was detected in cell-free extracts of a wild type strain of Neurospora crassa. Enzyme activity was found in both the supernatant and the particle fractions after centrifugation at 100,000 xg. The enzyme assayed in the 100,000 xg supernatant showed a 4fold difference in specific activity as compared to that found in the particle fraction.Acknowledgment. This work was supported by a grant from the Research Corporation.     

Denaturation map of the ribosomal DNA of Lytechinus variegatus sperm.

Electron microscopy of the partially heat denatured ribosomal DNA (rDNA) from sea urchin (Lytechinus variegatus) sperm has demonstrated that it consists of repeating units of 3.6 +/- 0.2 micron, corresponding to a mol.wt of 7.2 +/- 0.4 x 10(6). Based on differential denaturability, each repeat unit is divided into 2 regions. The larger region of 2.47 +/- 0.11 micron (mol.wt 4.9 +/- 0.22 x 10(6)) corresponds in length to the ribosomal precursor RNA of sea urchins and the smaller, GC-rich, subunit of 1.16 +/- 0.09 micrometer (mol.wt 2.3 +/- 0.18 x 10(6)) is presumed to contain non-transcribed spacer sequences.     

Antimicrobial activities of isoalantolactone, a major sesquiterpene lactone ofInula racemosa

Isoalantolactone, a major constituent of Inula racemosa (Compositae) was tested for its antimicrobial action against five bacteria, six human and six plant pathogenic fungi. The lactone showed absolute toxicities at 500 m g/mL against 3 soil borne phytopathogenic fungi (Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici, Rhizoctonia cerealis and Phytophthora capsici) with the MICs determined to be 100, 100 and 300 m g/mL, respectively. At the MICs, isoalantolactone exhibited its fungistatic nature of toxicity. The lowest fungicidal concentrations of the lactone to G. graminis var. tritici, R. cerealis and >. capsici were shown to be 150, 150 and 350 m g/mL, respectively. Moreover, isoalantolactone displayed weaker antibacterial activities against Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas fluorecense, Sarcina lentus and Staphylococcus aureus with MICs of 125, 425, 150, 150 and 100 m g/mL, respectively. The investigation disclosed the strong inhibition of isoalantolactone to the phytopathogenic fungi, raising a possibility that the lactone could be considered as a starting point for the project aiming at the development of new fungicide(s).     

Settling characteristics of ultrafine iron ore slimes

The slurry settling characteristics are the most important to design a thickener in process industries. In this work, the iron ore slurry from the screw classifier overflow was used for the settling study. It was observed that the original slurry exhibited a low settling velocity and a turbid supernatant during the settling process. Commercial flocculating agents with anionic, cationic, and nonionic characters were used to improve the settling behavior of suspensions, which were added into the slurry at different ranges of slurry pH values, respectively. The settling results show that the use of flocculants increase the settling rate by several times. Compared with the cationic and nonionic flocculants, the anionic flocculant is more effective in enhancing the slurry settling rate. The small dose of the anionic flocculant is found to be more effective, but the other flocculants are less effective even at higher dosages. The simulation of an industrial thickener was carried out based on the laboratory settling data, and the appropriate design and selection parameters of the industrial thickener were estimated.     

Characterization of dolochar wastes generated by the sponge iron industry

Solid wastes generated by the metallurgical industry contribute significantly towards the enhancement of environmental pollution. The handling, utilization, and safe disposal of these solid wastes are major concerns for the world. Dolochar is such a solid waste generated by the sponge iron industry. Investigations were carried out on the physical, mineralogical, and chemical characteristics for the efficient utilization of dolochar. The detailed studies on physico-chemical properties and petrography were carried out by optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Characterization studies revealed that the dolochar consists of quartz (free as well as locked), free lime, Fe particles, and Ca or Mg and/or Ca+Mg+Fe oxide phases. The washability data of -300 μm dolochar samples indicated that clean coal with 41wt% ash at 18% yield can be produced from dolochar with 78wt% ash. The studies further suggested that the liberation of the dolochar is hard to achieve for clear separation. The dolochar is observed to have high ash fusion temperature and the unburned carbon can be best utilized for power generation.     

Numerical investigation of the effect of transitory strand opening on mixing in a multistrand tundish

In a multistrand, the outlet near the inlet produces short circuiting flow. This leads to the formation of dead zones inside the tundish, and consequently, the mean residence time decreases. In the present study, numerical investigation of mixing inside a delta shaped tundish with sloping boundaries was carried out by solving the Navier-Stokes equation and employing the standard turbulence model. To decrease the dead zone volume inside the tundish, the effect of closing the outlet near the inlet for a small amount of time and further opening it on the mixing behavior of the tundish was studied. The outlets near the inlet were closed for varying amount of time, and the transient analysis of fluid flow and the tracer dispersion study were carried out to find the mixing parameters of the tundish, namely, mean residence time and the ratio of mixed to dead volume of the tundish. An optimum closure time of the near outlet has been found, which yields best mixing inside the tundish. The numerical code was validated against the experimental observation by performing the tracer dispersion study inside a multistrand tundish and the reasonably good match between the experimental and numerical results in terms of residence time distribution (RTD) curves. The results obtained from the present study confirm the strong role of choosing the right time for opening and closing the outlets to get improved characteristics for the fluid flow and mixing behavior of the tundish. The educational version of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software PHOENICS was used to solve the governing equations and interpret the results in different forms.     

Neurosecretory cells in the ventral nerve cord of leech (Hirudinaria granulosa)

Zusammenfassung Nachweis von 3 Typen neurosekretorischer Zellen im Bauchmark der indischen BlutegelHirudinaria granulosa undTheromyzon rude.     

An efficient parallel algorithm for shortest paths in planar layered digraphs

This paper presents an efficient parallel algorithm for the shortest path problem in planar layered digraphs that runs in O(log^3n) time with n processors. The algorithms uses a divide and conquer approach and is based on the novel idea of a one-way separator, which has the property that any directed path can be crossed only once.