Romanian Academy

About: Romanian Academy is a archive organization based out in Bucharest, Romania. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Nonlinear system. The organization has 3662 authors who have published 10491 publications receiving 146447 citations. The organization is also known as: Academia Română & Societatea Literară Română.

Quasilinear elliptic non-homogeneous Dirichlet problems through Orlicz-Sobolev spaces

Abstract: In this paper, we are interested in the existence of infinitely many weak solutions for a non-homogeneous eigenvalue Dirichlet problem. By using variational methods, in an appropriate Orlicz–Sobolev setting, we determine intervals of parameters such that our problem admits either a sequence of non-negative weak solutions strongly converging to zero provided that the non-linearity has a suitable behaviour at zero or an unbounded sequence of non-negative weak solutions if a similar behaviour occurs at infinity.

Electrochemical oxidation of aniline at boron-doped diamond electrodes

Abstract: The electrochemical oxidation of aniline at boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes was investigated by cyclic voltammetry, steady-state polarization measurements and bulk electrolysis under potentiostatic control. It was found that acidic media is suitable for efficient electrochemical oxidation of aniline, because at low pH, the potential required for avoiding electrode fouling is lower than in neutral and alkaline media. The results of the longtime polarization measurements suggested that more anodic potentials ensure slightly higher efficiency for the conversion of aniline to CO2, while the direct oxidation process does not play a prominent part in the overall electrochemical incineration of aniline. The current efficiencies (∼44%) and the efficiency of aniline conversion to CO2 (∼80%) favourably compare with those reported for other electrochemical methods for aniline destruction. The results demonstrate the possibility of using BDD as an electrode material for electrochemical wastewater treatment, mainly when very high anodic potentials are required.

Mutations in dopachrome tautomerase (Dct) affect eumelanin/pheomelanin synthesis, but do not affect intracellular trafficking of the mutant protein

Abstract: Dopachrome tautomerase (Dct) is a type I membrane protein and an important regulatory enzyme that plays a pivotal role in the biosynthesis of melanin and in the rapid metabolism of its toxic intermediates. Dct-mutant melanocytes carrying the slaty or slaty light mutations were derived from the skin of newborn congenic C57BL/6J non-agouti black mice and were used to study the effect(s) of these mutations on the intracellular trafficking of Dct and on the pigmentation of the cells. Dct activity is 3-fold lower in slaty cells compared with non-agouti black melanocytes, whereas slaty light melanocytes have a surprisingly 28-fold lower Dct activity. Homology modelling of the active site of Dct suggests that the slaty mutation [R194Q (Arg194→Gln)] is located in the active site and may alter the ability of the enzyme to transform the substrate. Transmembrane prediction methods indicate that the slaty light mutation [G486R (Gly486→Arg)] may result in the sliding of the transmembrane domain towards the N-terminus, thus interfering with Dct function. Chemical analysis showed that both Dct mutations increase pheomelanin and reduce eumelanin produced by melanocytes in culture. Thus the enzymatic activity of Dct may play a role in determining whether the eumelanin or pheomelanin pathway is preferred for pigment biosynthesis.