Engineering mechanisms of proton-coupled electron transfer to a titanium-substituted polyoxovanadate-alkoxide.

Metal oxides are promising catalysts for small molecule hydrogen chemistries, mediated by interfacial proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) processes. Engineering the mechanism of PCET has been shown to control the selectivity of reduced products, providing an additional route for improving reductive catalysis with metal oxides. In this work, we present kinetic resolution of the rate determining proton-transfer step of PCET to a titanium-doped POV, TiVO(OCH) with 9,10-dihydrophenazine by monitoring the loss of the cationic radical intermediate using stopped-flow analysis.

Carbon monoxide exposure inside UK road vehicles: a pilot study.

Environmental CO presents a risk to public health. The effects of chronic low-level CO exposure are well-documented, with pregnant women, the unborn and children being particularly vulnerable. Although a number of studies have investigated the phenomenon, its current prevalence in the UK has not been examined.

Lipoteichoic acid biosynthesis by is controlled by the MspA protein.

produces a plethora of virulence factors critical to its ability to establish an infection and cause disease. We have previously characterized a small membrane protein, MspA, which has pleiotropic effects on virulence and contributes to pathogenicity . Here we report that inactivation triggers overaccumulation of the essential cell wall component, lipoteichoic acid (LTA), which, in turn, decreases autolytic activity and leads to increased cell size due to a delay in cell separation.