Molecular beam electric deflection measurements have been used to determine electric susceptibilities for small unsolvated alanine-based peptides. The electric susceptibility provides information about the charge distribution within the peptide and can be used to distinguish between zwitterionic and canonical forms. Measured electric susceptibilities for WAn peptides (n = 1-5) are similar to th...

Intraocular lens (IOL) is an efficient implantable device commonly used for treating cataracts. However, bioadhesion of bacteria or residual lens epithelial cells on the IOL surface after surgery causes postoperative complications, such as endophthalmitis or posterior capsular opacification, and leads to loss of sight again. In the present study, zwitterionic polymer brushes were fabricated on ...

A bubble surfactometer was used to measure the surface tension of an aqueous suspension of surfactant TA as a function of bubble area over a range of cycling rates and surfactant bulk concentrations. Results of the surface tension-interfacial area loops exhibited a rich variety of phenomena, the character of which varied systematically with frequency and bulk concentration. A model was develope...

An important characteristic of the human group IIA secreted phospholipase A(2) (IIA PLA(2)) is the extremely low activity of this enzyme with phosphatidylcholine (PC) vesicles, mammalian cell membranes, and serum lipoproteins. This characteristic is reflected in the lack of ability of this enzyme to bind productively to zwitterionic interfaces. Part of the molecular basis for this lack of activ...

The acid dissociation constants of long-chain esters of carnitine (5-hydroxy-~,trimethylammonium-butyrate) above the critical micelle concentration were determined potentiometrieally at several concentrations of added KC1. As the degree of protonation 5 increases the apparent pK values decrease owing to the increased positive charge on the micelle. The difference in pK between the neutral (zwit...

Human Onchocerca volvulus infection sera were found to recognize zwitterionic glycolipids of O. volvulus and to cross-react with those of other parasitic nematodes (Ascaris suum, Setaria digitata and Litomosoides sigmodontis). By the use of an epitope-specific monoclonal antibody, zwitterionic glycolipids of all these nematode species were observed to contain the antigenic determinant phosphoch...

Defects are often considered as the active sites for chemical reactions. Here a variety of defects in zeolites are used to stabilize zwitterionic glycine that is not self-stable in gas phase; in addition, effects of acidic strengths and zeolite channels on zwitterionic stabilization are demonstrated. Glycine zwitterions can be stabilized by all these defects and energetically prefer to canonica...

The adsorption of two zwitterionic surfactants, dodecyldimethylammonium propanesulfonate (C12PS) and carboxybetaine (C12CB), their mixtures with the cationic dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (C12TAB) anionic sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) at silica–water interface has been studied by neutron reflection (NR). total adsorption, composition adsorbed layer, some structural information have obtained ov...

Although Bacteroides fragilis accounts for only 0.5% of the normal human colonic flora, it is the anaerobic species most frequently isolated from intra-abdominal and other infections with an intestinal source. The capsular polysaccharides of B. fragilis are part of a complex of surface polysaccharides and are the organism's most important virulence factors in the formation of intra-abdominal ab...