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Chemistry & Biochemistry Newsletter, Department Of Chemistry & Biochemistry, South Dakota State University

Chemistry & Biochemistry Newsletter: 2002-2015

Inside:

Page 2 CLS: Rewarding Field Looks for Increased Awareness

Page 3 Grant to Aid Ethanol Byproduct Research

Page 4 Studying World History in a Cold, Cold Place

Page 5 SDSU Research Finds Drugs React to Herbal Remedies; How’s Your Memory?

Page 6 Alumni News; Faculty and Staff News; Scholarship and Award Winners; Dean’s List – Spring 2004

Page 7 New Grad Students; New Faculty

Page 8 Exciting New Era for Development; Foundation Donors

Growth And Magnetic Properties Of Mno₂-Δ Nanowire Microspheres, Jinbo Yang, X.-D. Zhou, Satish K. Malik, C. S. Wang, William Joseph James

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

We report the synthesis of MnO2-delta microspheres using hydrothermal and conventional chemical reaction methods. The microspheres of MnO2-delta consist of nanowires having a diameter of 20-50 nm and a length of 2-8 µm. The value of oxygen vacancy delta estimated from x-ray photoelectron spectrum is 0.3. The magnetization versus temperature curve indicates a magnetic transition at about 13 K. It is found that a parasitic ferromagnetic component is imposed on the antiferromagnetic structure of MnO2-delta, which might result from distortion of the lattice structure due to oxygen vacancies. The magnetic transition temperature TN is about 10 K lower than that …

Inside Unlv, Diane Russell, Carol C. Harter, Cate Weeks, Cayrn Key

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Dissolution, Reactor, And Environmental Behavior Of Zro2-Mgo Inert Fuel Matrix: Neutronic Evaluation Of Zro2-Mgo Inert Fuels, E. Fridman, A. Galperin, E. Shwageraus

Fuels Campaign (TRP)

Second task of the BGU part of “Dissolution, Reactor, and Environmental Behavior of ZrO₂-MgO Inert Fuel Matrix” project aims at evaluation of the fertile free fuel matrix composition effect on the fuel reactivity and corresponding reactivity limited burnup. Fertile free fuel with different MgO to ZrO₂ ratio in the matrix will require different PuO₂ loading in order to assure certain fuel cycle length. This is due to the fact that absorption cross section of Zr is slightly higher than that of Mg, although absorption in both of these elements is small compared to Pu. Therefore, the …

The Armstrong Chemical Bond, Armstrong Atlantic State University

Chemical Bond Newsletter (Archived)

No abstract provided.

Function Of The Signal Peptide And N- And C-Terminal Propeptides In The Leucine Aminopeptidase From Aeromonas Proteolytica, Krzysztof P. Bzymek, Ventris M. D'Souza, Guanjing Chen, Heidi Campbell, Alice Mitchell, Richard C. Holz

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

The leucine aminopeptidase from Aeromonas proteolytica (also known as Vibrio proteolyticus) (AAP) is a metalloenzyme with broad substrate specificity. The open reading frame (ORF) for AAP encodes a 54 kDa enzyme, however, the extracellular enzyme has a molecular weight of 43 kDa. This form of AAP is further processed to a mature, thermostable 32 kDa form but the exact nature of this process is unknown. Over-expression of different forms of AAP in Escherichia coli (with AAP's native leader sequence, with and without the N- and/or C-terminal propeptides, and as fusion protein) has allowed a model for the processing of …

Development Of A Systems Engineering Model Of The Chemical Separations Process: Final Report, Yitung Chen, Sean Hsieh

Separations Campaign (TRP)

The whole chemical separation process is complex to the point that definitely requires certain level of systematic coordination. To perform smoothly and meet the target extraction rates among those processes, this research proposed a general-purpose systems engineering model.

A general purposed systems engineering model, Transmutation Research Program System Engineering Model Project (TRPSEMPro), was developed based on the above design concept. The system model includes four main parts: System Manager, Model Integration, Study Plan, and Solution Viewer. TRPSEMPro can apply not only to chemical separation process, but also a general system model.

Software engineering and Object Oriented Analysis and Design (OOA&D) …

Development Of A Systems Engineering Model Of The Chemical Separations Process, Yitung Chen, Sean Hsieh

Separations Campaign (TRP)

The whole chemical separation process is complex to the point that definitely requires certain level of systematic coordination. To perform smoothly and meet the target extraction rates among those processes, this research proposed a general-purpose systems engineering model.

A general purposed systems engineering model, Transmutation Research Program System Engineering Model Project (TRPSEMPro), was developed based on the above design concept. The system model includes four main parts: System Manager, Model Integration, Study Plan, and Solution Viewer. System Manager supervises all the case (problem) creation, and functionality definition. Model Integration identifies chemical extraction processes and their execution sequence. Study Plan is …

Evaluation Of Fluorapatite As A Waste-Form Material: Fourth Quarter Report, June 1 - September 30, 2004, Dennis W. Lindle, Oliver Hemmers

Separations Campaign (TRP)

Fluorapatite, fluorinated calcium phosphate, has been identified as a potential matrix for the entombment of the zirconium fluoride fission product waste stream from the proposed FLEX process. If the efficacy of fluorapatite-based waste-storage can be demonstrated, then new and potentially more-efficient options for handling and separating high-level wastes, based on fluoride-salt extraction, will become feasible. This proposal will develop a dual-path research project to develop a process to fabricate a synthetic fluorapatite waste form for the ZrF₄, FP waste stream, characterize the waste form, examine its performance under environmental conditions, and correlate the behavior of the waste form …

1H, 13C, And 15N Assignments For The Archaeglobus Fulgidis Protein Af2095, Robert Powers, Thomas B. Acton, Yi-Wen Chiang, P. K. Rajan, John R. Cort, Michael A. Kennedy, Jinfeng Liu, Lichung Ma, Burkhard Rost, Gaetano T. Montelione

Robert Powers Publications

Structural genomics is providing a means to determine the molecular and cellular function for the vast amount of proteins in the Human proteome that lack any explicit experimental information by characterizing the complete range of protein folds (Montelione, 2001). The Northeast Structural Genomics Consortium (NESG; http://www.nesg.org/) is a pilot project funded by the National Institutes of Health Protein Structure Initiative, focusing on proteins from eukaryotic model organisms including humans. The thermophillic archaea Archaeglobus fulgidis AF2095 protein is an example of a protein of unknown biological function targeted for structural analysis by NESG. AF2095 belongs to the Pfam family PF01981 – …

Curtius Rearrangement And Wolff Homologation Of Functionalized Peroxides, Patrick Dussault, Chunping Xu

Patrick Dussault Publications

The Curtius and Wolff rearrangements of peroxide-containing alkanoyl azides and diazoketones provide an efficient entry to peroxysubstituted amines, isocyanates, carbamates, and peroxyalkanoates.

Includes 6 pages of "Experimental/Supporting Information" not published with the printed journal edition, and previously available only online.

Solvent And Method For Extraction Of Triglyceride Rich Oil, Shubhender Kapila, Paul Ki-Souk Nam, V. J. Flanigan

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

The present invention relates to a solvent for use in extracting oil from an oil bearing material, such as soybeans, with the solvent resulting in the selective extraction of a triglyceride rich oil, which contains 95% or greater triglycerides and non-polar constituents, with the solvent comprised of a hydrocarbon, preferably hexane, and a fluorocarbon, so that the solvent has a viscosity less than 2.6 centipoise and a polarity of less than 0.1. The present invention also relates to a method of using the solvent to extract the triglyceride rich oil, with the method including preferably extracting the oil at a …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Dendrimer Templated Supported Bimetallic Pt-Au Nanoparticles, Huifang Lang, S. Maldonado, K. J. Stevenson, Bert D. Chandler

Chemistry Faculty Research

Bimetallic dendrimer-stabilized nanoparticles (DSNs) were used to prepare supported Pt-Au catalysts within the bulk miscibility gap for this binary system. Hydroxy-terminated generation 5 PAMAM dendrimers were used to prepare Cu0 nanoparticles (NPs). The Cu⁰ NPs were subsequently used to reduce K₂PtCl₄ and HAuCl₄, preparing stabilized bimetallic Pt-Au NPs with a 1:1 stoichiometry. The stabilized NPs were adsorbed onto a high surface area silica support and thermally activated to remove the dendrimers. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and infrared spectroscopy of adsorbed CO showed that this preparation route resulted in NPs in …

In Situ Enzymatic Screening (Ises) Of P,N-Ligands For Ni(0)- Mediated Asymmetric Intramolecular Allylic Amination, David B. Berkowitz, Weijun Shen, Gourhari Maiti

David Berkowitz Publications

An in situ enzymatic screening (ISES) approach to rapid catalyst evaluation recently pointed to Ni(0) as a new candidate transition metal for intramolecular allylic amination. This led to further exploration of chiral bidentate phosphine ligands for such transformations. Herein, a variety of P,N-ligands are examined for this Ni(0)-chemistry, using a model reaction leading into the vinylglycinol scaffold. On the one hand, an N,N-bis(2-diphenylphosphinoethyl)alkylamine (‘PNP’) ligand proved to be the fastest ligand yet seen for this Ni(0)-transformation. On the other, phosphinooxazoline (PHOX) ligands of the Pfaltz–Helmchen– Williams variety gave the highest enantioselectivities (up to 51% ee) among P,N-ligands …

Application Of Microgels For Optical Tagging, J. Michael Carthcart, L. Andrew Lyon, Marcus Weck, Robert D. Bock

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Books and Book Chapters

In this paper we present results from our research into the use of microgel-based photonic crystals in an optical tagging application. The basis for this research is the phenomena of self-assembly of hydrogel nano- and microparticles (i.e., microgels) into colloidal crystal Bragg reflectors. Previous research has demonstrated the assembly of Bragg structures that are sensitive in the visible spectral region. This current research focuses on the extension of this process into the infrared regime and the use of these infrared-sensitive structures in the creation of an optical tag. In particular, the research effort emphasizes two primary areas: the development of …

9-Ethyl-3-Methyl-1, 6-Dinitrocarbazole, Erol Asker, John Masnovi

Chemistry Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Rapid And Convenient Method For Preparing Masters For Microcontact Printing With 1–12 Μm Features, Lloyd W. Zilch, Ghaleb A. Husseini, Yit-Yian Lua, Michael V. Lee, Kevin R. Gertsch, Bennion R. Cannon, Robert M. Perry, Eric T. Sevy, Matthew C. Asplund, Adam T. Woolley, Matthew R. Linford

Faculty Publications

Mechanical scribing can be employed to create surfaces with recessed features. Through replica molding elastomeric copies of these scribed surfaces are created that function as stamps for microcontact printing. It is shown that this new method for creating masters for microcontact printing can be performed with a computer-controlled milling machine (CNC), making this method particularly straightforward and accessible to a large technical community that does not need to work in a particle free environment. Thus, no clean room, or other specialized equipment is required, as is commonly needed to prepare masters. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry confirms surface pattering by …

Evidence Of Linear Lattice Expansion And Covalency Enhancement In Rutile Tio2 Nanocrystals, Guangshe Li, Juliana Boerio-Goates, Brian F. Woodfield, Liping Li

Faculty Publications

Lattice variations and bonding characteristics in rutile TiO2 nanocrystals were examined by x-ray diffraction and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. With a reduction in the physical dimensions, rutile TiO2 nanocrystals show a linear lattice expansion and an anomalous covalency enhancement in apparent contradiction to the ionicity increase in BaTiO3 and CuO nanocrystals as reported recently by S. Tsunekawa et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 2000, 85, 3440] and V. R. Palkar et al. [Phys. Rev. B 1996, 53, 2167]. A surface defect dipole model is proposed to explain these physical phenomena in terms of the strong interactions among the surface dipoles that produce …

Halide Recognition Through Diagnostic “Anion–Π” Interactions: Molecular Complexes Of CL−, Br−, And I− With Olefinic And Aromatic Π Receptors, Yaroslav S. Rosokha, Sergey V. Lindeman, Sergiy V. Rosokha, Jay K. Kochi

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

Intense colorations and new charge-transfer absorption bands are observed upon addition of a halide (Cl⁻, Br⁻, I⁻) to neutral organic π acceptors with electron-deficient olefinic and aromatic centers. These phenomena results from noncovalent anion–π interactions (shown schematically), which were confirmed by X-ray crystallography.

Phospholipid Scramblase 1 Potentiates The Antiviral Activity Of Interferon, Beihua Dong, Quansheng Zhou, Ji Zhao, Aimin Zhou, Ronald N. Harty, Santanu Bose, Amiya Banerjee, Roger Slee, Jeanna Guenther, Bryan R.G. Williams, Therese Wiedmer, Peter J. Sims, Robert H. Silverman

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Phospholipid scramblase 1 (PLSCR1) is an interferon (IFN)- and growth factor-inducible, calcium-binding protein that either inserts into the plasma membrane or binds DNA in the nucleus depending on its state of palmyitoylation. In certain hematopoietic cells, PLSCR1 is required for normal maturation and terminal differentiation from progenitor cells as regulated by select growth factors, where it promotes recruitment and activation of Src kinases. PLSCR1 is a substrate of Src (and Abl) kinases, and transcription of the PLSCR1 gene is regulated by the same growth factor receptor pathways in which PLSCR1 potentiates afferent signaling. The marked transcriptional upregulation of PLSCR1 by …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Nanocrystalline Zinc Ferrite, Gabriel Caruntu, Charles J. O'Connor

Chemistry Faculty Publications

We report on the synthesis of highly uniform, single phase zinc ferrite films prepared through a single step low temperature reaction by the liquid phase deposition (LPD) method. X-ray diffraction, TGA and EDX
measurements support the assumption that the as-deposited films are constituted from a mixture of crystallized FeOOH and amorphous Zn(OH)2. Upon heat treatment in air at 600 uC for one hour the intermediates are subsequently converted into the corresponding zinc ferrites. The films with adjustable chemical compositions are identified as having a spinel-type crystal structure and present a spherical or rod-like microstructure, depending on the Zn content. The …

Probing Cation Antisite Disorder In Gd2ti2o7 Pyrochlore By Site-Specific Nexafs And Xps, Ponnusamy Nachimuthu, S. Thevuthasan, Mark H. Engelhard, W. J. Weber, D. K. Shuh, N. M. Hamdan, B. S. Mun, E. M. Adams, D. E. Mccready, V. Shutthanandan, Dennis W. Lindle, G. Balakrishnan, R. C. Ewing

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Research

Disorder in Gd₂Ti₂O₇ is investigated by near-edge x-ray-absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). NEXAFS shows Ti⁴⁺ ions occupy octahedral sites with a tetragonal distortion induced by vacant oxygen sites. O 1s XPS spectra obtained with a charge neutralization system from Gd₂Ti₂O₇(100) and the Gd₂Ti₂O₇ pyrochlore used by Chen et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 105901 (2002)], both yielded a single peak, unlike the previous result on the latter that found two peaks. The current results give no evidence for …

Nondipole Effects In The Photoionization Of Xe 4d5/2 And 4d3/2: Evidence For Quadrupole Satellites, Oliver Hemmers, Renaud Guillemin, D. Rolles, A. Wolska, Dennis W. Lindle, K. T. Cheng, W. R. Johnson, H. L. Zhou, S. T. Manson

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Measurements of nondipole parameters in spin-orbit-resolved Xe 4d photoionization demonstrate dynamical differences arising from relativistic effects. The experimental data do not agree with relativistic random-phase approximation calculations of single ionization dipole and quadrupole channels. It is suggested that the discrepancy is due to the omission of multiple-excitation quadrupole channels, i.e., quadrupole satellite transitions.

Afci Quarterly Input – Unlv July Through September, 2004, Harry Reid Center For Environmental Studies. Nuclear Science And Technology Division

Transmutation Research Program Reports (TRP)

Quarterly report highlighting research projects, activities and objectives of the Transmutation Research Program at the Nuclear Science & Technology Division, Harry Reid Research Center.

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas supports the AFCI through research and development of technologies for economic and environmentally sound refinement of spent nuclear fuel. The UNLV program has four components: infrastructure, international collaboration, student-based research, and management and program support.

Dissolution, Reactor, And Environmental Behavior Of Zro2-Mgo Inert Fuel Matrix: Quarterly Report, July 2004 To September 2004, Kenneth Czerwinski, Earl Wolfram

Fuels Campaign (TRP)

This project will examine inert fuels containing ZrO₂ and MgO as the inert matrix, with the relative amount of MgO varied from 30% to 70% in ZrO₂. Reactor physics calculations will be used to examine suitable quantities of burnable poisons from the candidate elements Gd, Er, or Hf with reactor grade Pu providing the fissile component, with up to 10 % of ²³⁹Pu. Ceramics will be synthesized and characterized based on the reactor physics results. The solubility the fuel ceramics, in reactor conditions, reprocessing conditions, and repository conditions, will be investigated in a manner to provide …

Dissolution, Reactor, And Environmental Behavior Of Zro2-Mgo Inert Fuel Matrix: Neutronic Evaluation Of Zro2-Mgo Inert Fuels, E. Fridman, A. Galperin, E. Shwageraus

Fuels Campaign (TRP)

This progress report presents results of analysis performed within the framework of “Dissolution, Reactor, and Environmental Behavior of ZrO₂-MgO Inert Fuel Matrix” project managed by University of Nevada at Las Vegas, Harry Reid Center for Environmental Studies.

The BGU working program includes the following four tasks:

1. Benchmark of computational tools

2. Determination of fissile Pu loading

3. Evaluation of burnable poison designs

4. Evaluation of reactivity feedback coefficients

This progress report presents the results of Task 1. The main objective of this task is to confirm the validity of the ELCOS ¹ code system for inert matrix …

Modeling Corrosion In Oxygen Controlled Lbe Systems With Coupling Of Chemical Kinetics And Hydrodynamics-Task V: Trp Final Report 09/01/2003-08/31/2004, Samir Moujaes, Yitung Chen

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The Lead-Bismuth eutectic (LBE) has been determined from previous experimental studies by the Russians and the European scientific community to be a potential material that can be used as a spallation target and coolant for the TRP proposed application. Properly controlling the oxygen content in LBE can drastically reduce the LBE corrosion to structural steels. However, existing knowledge of material corrosion performance was obtained from point-wise testing with only very sparse experimental data. Scientists have noticed that the concentration of oxygen dissolved in the liquid alloy could control the corrosion rate of steels exposed to Pb or Pb-Bi. At high …

Modeling Corrosion In Oxygen Controlled Lbe Systems With Coupling Of Chemical Kinetics And Hydrodynamics-Task V: Fourth Quarterly Report 06/01/2004-08/31/2004, Samir Moujaes, Yitung Chen

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The Lead-Bismuth eutectic (LBE) has been determined from previous experimental studies by the Russians and the European scientific community to be a potential material that can be used as a spallation target and coolant for the TRP proposed application. Properly controlling the oxygen content in LBE can drastically reduce the LBE corrosion to structural steels. However, existing knowledge of material corrosion performance was obtained from point-wise testing with only very sparse experimental data. Scientists have noticed that the concentration of oxygen dissolved in the liquid alloy could control the corrosion rate of steels exposed to Pb or Pb-Bi. At high …

Chemical Microetching Of Three-Dimensional Gear-Like Pattern On Nickel Surface, Zhu-Fang Liu, Li-Ming Jiang, Jing Tang, Li Zhang, Zhong-Qun Tian, Zhao-Wu Tian, Pin-Kuan Liu, Li-Ning Sun

Journal of Electrochemistry

The chemical micromachining on nickel surface with three-dimensional (3D) gear-like mold was realized by confined etchant layer technique (CELT). By using effective chemical etching and scavenging system (HNO₃ +NaOH) and optimizing experimental parameters, such as the etching time, etching current density, concentration of the etchant or and scavenger, we obtained the etched pattern, which is close to negative copy of the mold. The etched micro-pattern characterized by SEM and AFM, demonstrates that CELT can be applied to the 3-D microstructure replication on nickel surface.

The Electrochemical Behavior And Determination Of Gsh At The Powder Microelectrode, Jian Chen, Zhong-Yu He, Chuansin Cha, Huan Liu

Journal of Electrochemistry

In this paper, the electrochemical behavior of GSH at the surface of platinum(Pt) electrode, glass carbon(GC) electrode and acetylene black packed powder microelectrode (AB-PME) was studied. It was found that the electrochemical oxidations of GSH at both Pt and GC electrode were highly irreversible. No current peak or current plateau could be observed from the CV curves. The direct electro-oxidation of GSH at carbon surface was achieved by using the PME technique.In this case, the apparent reversibility of GSH oxidation was enhanced significatly .The overpotential of GSH oxidation was reduced to 0.5 V at the surface of AB-PME compared with …