Alginate-gelatin mixed gel was applied to immobilized laccase for decolorization of some synthetic dyes including crystal violet. The immobilization procedure was accomplished by adding alginate to a gelatin solution containing the enzyme and the subsequent dropwise addition of the mixture into a stirred CaCl(2) solution. The obtained data showed that both immobilized and free enzymes acted opt...

Among the possible explanations for the recent increase in the prevalence of asthma in several countries, air pollution is one of the foremost public health concerns. Data from the "Pollution Atmosphérique et Affections Respiratoires Chroniques" (PAARC) survey collected in 24 areas of seven French towns during 1974-1976 were reanalysed to assess the relationship between the prevalence of asthma...

The initial cosmological singularity in the framework of the general theory of relativity is resolved by introducing the effect of the uncertainty principle of quantum theory without violating conventional laws of physics. A plausible account of the mechanism of the big bang, analogous to that of a nuclear explosion, is given and the currently accepted Planck temperature of ∼ 10 32 K at the beg...

We describe the pre-staining of proteins in normal human serum with Remazol Brilliant Blue before separation by disc electrophoresis. Critical to reproducibility are: dye concentration of 0.16 mol/L in a Tris-glycine buffer (pH 8.3), use of equal volumes of serum and dye solution, a tagging period of 2 h at room temperature, and electrophoresis of 0.1 mL of the mixture at 2.5 mA/gel for about 2...

An experimental study was performed to investigate the effect of subcritical carbon dioxide (CO2) adsorption on mechanical properties of shales with different coring directions. Uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) tests were conducted on shale samples with different CO2 adsorption time at a pressure of 7 MPa and a temperature of 40 ̋C. The crack propagation and the failure mechanism of shale sa...

The effects of CO₂-water-rock interactions on the mechanical properties of shale are essential for estimating the possibility of sequestrating CO₂ in shale reservoirs. In this study, uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) tests together with an acoustic emission (AE) system and SEM and EDS analysis were performed to investigate the mechanical properties and microstructural changes of black shales ...

We have found that for extreme dilaton black holes an inner boundary must be introduced in addition to the outer boundary to give an integer value to the Euler number. The resulting manifolds have (if one identifies imaginary time) topology S1×R×S2 and Euler number χ = 0 in contrast to the non-extreme case with χ = 2. The entropy of extreme U(1) dilaton black holes is already known to be zero. ...