A mol of creatine kinase (EC 2.7.3.2), an enzyme with two identical subunits can be titrated very rapidly and stoichiometrically with 2 mol of 2-chloromercuri-4-nitrophenol, an environmentally sensitive chromophoric probe specific for thiols. Chemical modification does not inactivate the enzyme nor can the reaction be prevented by a dead-end quaternary complex of enzyme, magnesium, ADP, and cre...

In China, excessive use of nitrogen fertilizers in glasshouses leads to nitrate accumulations in soil and plants, which then limits productivity. Melatonin, an evolutionarily highly conserved molecule, has a wide range of functions in plants. We analyzed the effects of melatonin pretreatment on the growth, mineral nutrition, and nitrogen metabolism in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L. "Jin You No. 1...

Reactive uptake coefficients for nitric acid onto size-selected (d(ve) = 102 and 233 nm) sodium chloride aerosols are determined for relative humidities (RH) between 85% and 10%. Both pure sodium chloride and sodium chloride mixed with magnesium chloride (X(Mg/Na) = 0.114, typical of sea salt) are studied. The aerosol is equilibrated with a carrier gas stream at the desired RH and then mixed wi...

BACKGROUND Underground water is an important natural resource serving as a reliable source of drinking water for many people worldwide, especially in developing countries. Underground water quality needs to be given a primary research and quality control attention due to possible contamination. This study was therefore designed to determine the physico-chemical and bacteriological quality of bo...

The solvothermal reaction of magnesium nitrate with bi-phenyl-4,4'-dicarboxylic acid in N,N-dimethyl-formamide and water leads to the formation of crystals of the title complex, [Mg(C(14)H(8)O(4))(H(2)O)(2)](n). In the crystal structure, the Mg cations are coordinated by six O atoms from two water mol-ecules and four symmetry-related biphenyl-4,4'-dicarboxyl-ate anions within slightly distorted...

We report a hydrothermal synthesis method for MgO shell coatings directly onto the surface of ZnO nanowire arrays. The entire process can be carried out below 100 °C. The MgO shells are produced by the addition of 10 mM magnesium nitrate with 0.2 M sodium hydroxide in water, resulting in a shell thickness of up to 8 nm, verified by high resolution transmission electron microscopy. The viability...

The Salmonella typhimurium microsomal test system for mutagenic activity was successfully used to detect the presence of mutagenic compounds in the smoke condensates of several types of cigarettes. The condensates were shown to contain compounds which could cause frameshift mutations when activated by microsomal enzymes. An analysis of fractions of smoke condensate revealed that the detected mu...