A genome project has been launched and aims to sequence total genome of Cotesia plutellae bracovirus. On this process, several open reading frames (ORFs) have been identified. This study was intended to clone and express protein tyrosine phosphatase genes, PTP1 and PTP6. The ORFs of these two genes consist of 900 and 891 bp, respectively. PTP1 and PTP6 are genes of a group of genes that has been implicated as important regulatory components in cell growth, differentiation and malignant transformation by certain viruses. In this work,we studied the cloning and expression patterns of these genes in Plutella xylostella, a lepidopteran host of C. plutellae. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) produced the corresponding products of PTP1/6. These PCR products were cloned and expressed using an expression vector pBAD-TOPO, and then over-expressed using an inducer, L-arabinose. Then the purified proteins were confirmed using Western blotting (immunoblotting using V5 antibody) and the apparent molecular weights of both proteins were about 40 kDa. Expression of PTP genes were analyzed in the parasitized P. xylostella by realtime RT-PCR, which indicated late expression pattern of both PTPs during parasitization. We are pursuing to elucidate their physiological function in the parasitized host insect.

Potassium hydroxide activated carbons were prepared from Egyptian petroleum cokes with different KOH/coke ratios and at different activation temperatures and times. The textural properties were determined by adsorption of nitrogen at -196℃. The adsorption of iodine and methylene blue was also investigated at 30℃. The surface area and the non-micropore volume increased whereas the micropore volume decreased with the increase of the ratio KOH/coke. Also the surface area and porosity increased with the rise of activation temperature from 500 to 800℃. Textural parameter considerably increased with the increase of activation time from 1 to 3 h. Further increasing of activation time from 3 to 4 h was associated with a less pronounced increase in textural parameters. The adsorption of iodine shows the same trend of surface area and porosity change exhibited by nitrogen adsorption, with KOH/coke ratio and temperature of activation. Adsorption of methylene blue follows pseudo-first-order kinetics and its equilibrium adsorption follows Langmuir and D-R models.

Chemically activated carbons were prepared from maize cobs, using phosphoric acid of variable concentration. The texturalparameters of the activated carbons were determined from the nitrogen adsorption isotherms measured at 77K. The chemistryof the carbon surface was determined by measuring the surface pH, the pHPZC and the concentration of the carbon - oxygengroups of the acid type on the carbon surface. Kinetics of Cr(VI) sorption/reduction was investigated at 303K. Two processeswere investigated in terms of kinetics and equilibrium namely; Cr(VI) removal and chromium sorption were studied at variousinitial pH (1-7). Removal of Cr(VI) shows a maximum at pH 2.5. At pH<2.5, sorption decreases because of the protoncompetition with evolved Cr(III) for ion exchange sites. The decrease of sorption at pH>2.5 is due to proton insufficiencyand to the decrease of the extent of Cr(VI) reduction. The chemistry of the surface of activated carbon is an important factorin determining its adsorption capacity from aqueous solutions particularly when the sorption process involves ion exchange.

We have demonstrated the feasibility of using electrospinning method to fabricate long and continuous composite nanofiber sheets of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) incorporated with zinc oxide (ZnO). Such PAN/ZnO composite nanofiber sheets represent an important step toward utilizing carbon nanofibers (CNFs) as materials to achieve remarkably enhanced physico-chemical properties. In an attempt to derive these advantages, we have used a variety of techniques such as field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD) to obtain quantitative data on the materials. The CNFs produced are in the diameter range of 100 to 350 nm after carbonization at 1000℃. Electrical conductivity of the random CNFs was increased by increasing the concentration of ZnO. A dramatic improvement in porosity and specific surface area of the CNFs was a clear evidence of the novelty of the method used. This study indicated that the optimal ZnO concentration of 3 wt% is enough to produce CNFs having enhanced electrical and physico-chemical properties.

The international cooperation project CIBER (Cosmic Infrared Background ExpeRiment) is a rocket-borne instrument, of which the scientific goal is to measure the cosmic near-infrared extra-galactic background to search for signatures of primordial galaxy formation. CIBER consists of a wide-field two-color camera, a low-resolution absolute spectrometer, and a high-resolution narrow-band imaging spectrometer. Currently, all the subsystems have been built, and the integration, testing, and calibration of the CIBER system are on process for the scheduled launch in June 2008.

Four stream- activated carbons were prepared by carbonizing apricot stones at 600℃ followed by gasification with steam at 950℃ to burn-off's=17, 32, 49 and 65%. The textural parameters of these activated carbons were determined from nitrogen adsorption results at 77 K. The total pore volume and the mean pore radius increased with the increase of % burn-off whereas the surface area increased with the increase of burn- off from 17 to 32 and further to 49%. Further increase of burn-off to 65% was associated with a considerable decrease in surface area as a result of pronounced pore widening due to pore erosion. The surface pH values of the carbons investigated range between 7.1 and 8.2. The adsorption of oxamyl onto the activated carbon followed pseudo-second order kinetics and the equilibrium adsorption isotherms fitted Langmuir adsorption model. The adsorption of oxamyl proved to be of the physical type and took place in non-micropores. The amount of oxamyl adsorbed expressed as qm depends to a large extent to the surface area located in non-micropores S∝ n, where a straight line relationship passing through the origin was obtained.

Treatment of water hyacinth with sulphuric acid produces carbonaceous materials that have been used to remove Cu(II) and Cd (II) ions from aqueous solutions. Untreated water hyacinth was also used for the subject of comparison. The textural properties of the carbonaceous materials were determined from nitrogen adsorption at 77 K. The optimum pH for the sorption of Cu (II) and Cd (II) ions on the investigated sorbents was determined. Dynamic adsorption measurements have been taken at 298 K whereas equilibrium measurements were carried out at 298, 313 and 323 K. The adsorption of nitrogen at 77 K on the untreated sample was too low and the surface areas of the treated samples 2, 3 and 4 were found between 70-208 m2/g. The total pore volumes of these samples which were determined for the carbonaceous materials investigated were found to be 0.076-0.140 ml/g. The kinetic adsorption data of Cu (II) and Cd(II) were applicable to both pseudo - first and pseudo-second order but fit more the latter order. The equilibrium adsorption data were found to fit Freundlich and Langmiur equations. The values of DG, DH and DS are all negative indicating the feasibility and the spontaneous nature of the sorption of Cu (II) and Cd (II) ions by the sorbents investigated.

We studied formation of nanostructured -Cu composites under shock wave conditions. We investigated the influence of preliminary mechanical activation (MA) of Ti-B-Cu powder mixtures on the peculiarities of the reaction between Ti and B under shock wave. In the MA-ed mixture the reaction proceeded completely while in the non-activated mixture the reagents remained along with the product . titanium diboride. The size of titanium diboride particles in the central part of the compact was 100-300 nm.

Nd-Fe-B type powder was sintered using spark plasma sintering method. Fabricated compact sintered at the temperature of , is found to be a composite magnet with Nd-Fe-Co-B and . The compact sintered at shows slightly low coercivity and large remanent magnetization comparing to the compact sintered at due to the formation of phase, resulting in the large maximum energy product. Maximum energy product tends to decrease with decreasing thickness of sintered compacts below 0.5 mm in thickness.

Carbonization products C1, C2, C3, C4 and C5 were prepared by the carbonization of date pit in limited air, at 500, 600, 700, 800 and 1000℃, respectively. C1-V-600, C3-V-600, C1-V-1000 and C3-V-1000 were prepared by thermal treatment of C1 and C3 under vacuum at 600 and 1000℃. The textural properties were determined from nitrogen adsorption at 77 K and from carbon dioxide adsorption at 298 K. The surface pH, the FTIR spectra and the acid and base neutralization capacities of some carbons were investigated. The amounts of surface oxygen were determined by out-gassing the carbon-oxygen groups on the surface as CO2 and CO. The adsorption of water vapor at 308 K on C1, C2, C3 and C4 was measured and the decomposition of H2O2 at 308 K was also investigated on C1, C2, C3, C4 and C5. The surface area and the total pore volume decreased with the rise of the carbonization temperature from 500 to 1000℃. The adsorption of water vapor is independent on the textural properties, while it is related to the amount of acidic carbon-oxygen groups on the surface. The catalytic activity of H2O2 decomposition does not depend on the textural properties, but directly related to the amount of basic carbon-oxygen complexes out-gassed as CO, at high temperatures.