α-FeO/, CoO/, and CoFeO/MWCNTs/Ionic Liquid Nanocomposites as High-Performance Electrocatalysts for the Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution Reaction in a Neutral Medium.

Transition metal oxides are a great alternative to less expensive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts. However, the lack of conductivity of these materials requires a conductor material to support them and improve the activity toward HER. On the other hand, carbon paste electrodes result in a versatile and cheap electrode with good activity and conductivity in electrocatalytic hydrogen production, especially when the carbonaceous material is agglomerated with ionic liquids.

Recent progress, trends, and new challenges in the electrochemical production of green hydrogen coupled to selective electrooxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF).

The production of clean electrical energy and the correct use of waste materials are two topics that currently concern humanity. In order to face both problems, extensive work has been done on the electrolytic production of green H coupled with the electrooxidative upgrading of biomass platform molecules. 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is obtained from forest waste biomass and can be selectively oxidized to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) by electrochemical pathways.

Electrical and Electrochemical Behavior of Carbon Paste Electrodes Modified with Ionic Liquids Based in -Octylpyridinium Bis(Trifluoromethylsulfonyl)Imide. A Theoretical and Experimental Study.

In this work, we studied carbon paste electrodes (CPEs) with two kinds of binders: mineral oil or ionic liquids (IL) derived from N-substituted octyl pyridinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide with the substituents H-, CH-, CN- and CF-. The work aims to study this series of IL and determine a possible effect of the substituent of the cation in the behavior of the IL as a binder of graphite for obtaining IL-CPEs. The electrochemical response and the electrical behavior were measured by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, respectively.

A Mg2+-induced conformational switch rendering a competent DNA polymerase catalytic complex.

The structural and dynamical changes occurring before nucleotide addition were studied using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) reverse transcriptase (RT) complexes containing one or two Mg2+ ions in the presence of dNTP. Our models revealed that the formation of a catalytically competent DNA polymerase complex required subtle rearrangements at the catalytic site A, which occurred only when an Mg2+ ion was bound. This model has been validated using pre-steady-state kinetics to show that free Mg2+ is necessary to obtain a catalytically competent polymerase.

Binding of 5'-GMP to the GluR2 AMPA receptor: insight from targeted molecular dynamics simulations.

Guanine nucleotides behave as competitive antagonists at ionotropic glutamate receptors and show neuroprotective activity in different experimental excitotoxicity paradigms, both in vivo and in cultured cell preparations. Taking 5'-GMP as the reference nucleotide, we have tried to understand how these molecules interact with the agonist-binding site of the GluR2 alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionate (AMPA) receptor. Using a crystallographic model of the ligand-binding core of the GluR2 receptor in complex with kainate, we have previously analyzed the structural changes associated to the binding of agonists to the receptor and suggested a mechanism for the coupling of agonist binding to channel gating.

Kainate-triggered currents in Xenopus oocytes injected with chick retinal membrane fragments: effect of guanine nucleotides.

Purpose: To electrophysiologically characterize alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionate (AMPA)/kainate receptors in chick retinal membrane fragments, incorporated into Xenopus oocytes by direct microinjection.

Methods: A 6-day retinal membrane suspension was injected into Xenopus oocytes by use of an electronic nanoliter injector. Fifteen to 40 hours after injection, the oocytes were assayed for kainate-elicited inward currents, under voltage-clamp conditions (membrane potential held at -70 mV).

Guanine and adenine nucleotidase activities in rat cerebrospinal fluid.

Adenine and guanine nucleotides have been shown to exert multiple roles in central and peripheral nervous systems, and the sequential breakdown of these nucleotides by enzymatic systems is an important step in the modulation of their extracellular effects. The aim of this study was to investigate whether nucleotide hydrolysis also occurs in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of rats. CSF was able to hydrolyze all guanine and adenine nucleotides investigated (2.

Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Neurogenesis in the Chick Retina.

Chick embryo retinas were labelled in ovo by single injections of [3H]thymidine at selected times between days 2 and 12 of incubation. Embryos were later removed, at different stages of development, and the retinas processed for autoradiography of either serial sections or dissociated cell preparations. Analysis of unlabelled cells shows that neurogenesis starts, on day 2 of incubation, in a dorsotemporal area of the central retina, close to the posterior pole and to the optic nerve head.