Fluorimetric determination of the levels of urinary neopterin and serum thiobarbituric acid reactive substances in the nonagenarians

Twelve self-sustaining nonagenarians, 10 women and two men, aged 94+/-3 years, and eight institutionalised nonagenarians, eight women, aged 91+/-1 year as well as 11 control subjects, seven women and four men, aged 84+/-5 years entered the study. Urinary neopterin, an indicator of systemic immune activation, and serum thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), a marker of lipoperoxidation, were determined initially, and collection of the blood and urine samples was repeated at 3-month interval. Neopterin was measured in the urine specimens by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography. A C(18) reversed-phase column 3.3x150 mm, 5 mum-diameter packing Separon SGX was used. Potassium phosphate buffer (15 mmol l(-1), pH 6.4) at flow rate of 0.8 ml min(-1) was used as mobile phase. After centrifugation (5 min, 1300xg) and diluting 100 mul of urine specimens with 1.0 ml of mobile phase containing 2 g of disodium-EDTA per litre, a 20 mul sample was injected on a column. Neopterin was identified by its native fluorescence (353 nm excitation, 438 nm emission). Creatinine was determined by Jaffé kinetic reaction after dilution of sample 1:50 (v/v). The concentration of neopterin in urine was expressed as neopterin/creatinine ratio (mumol mol(-1) creatinine). TBARS were determined spectrofluorometrically using LS-5 spectrofluorimeter (excitation wavelength 528 nm, emission wavelength 558 nm) after extraction with n-butanol treatment with thiobarbituric acid. The significance of differences between nonagenarians and control group was examined by ANOVA-Kruskal-Wallis tests, using statistical software NCSS 6.0.21 (Kaysville, UT, 1996). The decision on significance was based on P=0.05. Urinary neopterin was significantly higher in institutionalised compared to self-sustaining subjects and controls (625+/-565 vs. 203+/-63 mumol mol(-1) creatinine, and 198+/-128 mumol mol(-1) creatinine, respectively, P=0.006). The serum TBARS were higher in both groups of nonagenarians (3.23+/-1.16 mumol l(-1) and 2.69+/-0.39 vs. 2.12+/-0.83 mumol l(-1) for the self-sustaining, institutionalised and controls, respectively, P=0.023). We conclude that the fluorimetric determinations of urinary neopterin and serum TBARS can be useful for the monitoring health status in the elderly patients.     

Fluctuation measurements in a supersonic boundary layer implying in-situ calibration of the hot-wire anemometer

A calibration technique for the constant-temperature hot-wire anemometer is presented, which is based on traversing the probe through the boundary layer of a flat plate while simultaneously performing fluctuation measurements. The free stream Mach number was M = 2.54, and the Reynolds number Re_d, based on wire diameter, ranged from 9 to 23. A comparison of the sensitivity values obtained with the aid of such a calibration procedure — under the condition of neglecting low temperature loadings (t<0.6) — agrees well with sensitivities determined with free-stream data-The use of a modified transfer function for correcting the power spectra of flow perturbations revealed a conformity of wide parts of the corrected spectra with the Kolmogorov decay. The fluctuation levels of total temperature and mass flux were computed for the boundary layer of a flat plate. This work was presented at the International Conference on the Methods of Aerophysical Research ICMAR 2007, which was held in Novosibirsk on 5–10 February 2007.     

Magnetic structures and crystal field in the heavy electron materials YbAgGe and YbPtIn

We have examined the magnetic properties of the heavy electron compounds YbAgGe and YbPtIn by ¹⁷⁰Yb M?ssbauer spectroscopy down to 0.1 K, and the crystal field properties of YbAgGe by Perturbed Angular Correlations (PAC) measurements up to 900 K. In YbAgGe, we show that each of the two magnetically ordered phases below 0.8 K involves a specific incommensurate modulation of the Yb moment. An analysis of existing low temperature specific heat data suggests the persistence of fluctuations of the correlated Yb spins down to 0.1 K. The PAC data allow to discriminate among proposed Yb³⁺ crystal field level schemes. In YbPtIn, we show that the low temperature magnetic order phase has an antiferro-para structure, where zero moment Yb ions coexist with large moment ones, and that a 90° moment reorientation occurs at 1.4 K.     

Activity of TiO2 deposited by the CVD method on ammoxidized surface of a carbonaceous material in hydrogenation of styrene

Hydrogenation of styrene has been applied as a test reaction to study the catalytic activity of TiO₂ deposited by the CVD (chemical vapour deposition) method on the surface of a carbonaceous material enriched in nitrogen (C_N).     

Corner view on the crown domain

In this paper we raise a question about the boundary of the crown domain of a Riemannian symmetric space X. In case X is of Hermitian type we give an affirmative answer.     

AES Depth profiling of semiconducting multilayer structures using an ion beam bevelling technique

An ion beam technique has been developed which allows the preparation of bevels from semiconducting heteroepitaxial structures with smooth surfaces and very flat angles in the order of 0.1°. The bevels are used for AES depth profiling of heterostructures by the line scan technique. Measured and calculated line scans from (Al,Ga)As/GaAs and SiGe/Si test structures are compared to estimate the contributions of the electron escape depth and the ion beam mixing to the depth resolution. Received: 21 August 1996 / Revised: 14 January 1997 / Accepted: 18 January 1997     

Crystal structure of m-nitrobenzoic anhydride

The title compound (C₁₄H₈N₂O₇,M _r =306.2) crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pbca witha=6.962(1).b=24.688(1), andc=15.890(1)Å,V=2731.0 ų,D _x =1.489 g·cm^–3 forZ=8,=0.98 mm^–1,F(000)=1296,T=293 K. FinalR=0.053 for 1873 observed reflections. The structure was solved by direct methods. Approximately planar molecules lie perpendicular to the [100] direction and show partial stacking. The structure is the first example of a symmetric anhydride which does not retain the symmetry in the crystal state. The two independent nitro groups twist out of the ring planes by 10.5 and 14.8°, respectively.     

Near-infrared absorption spectroscopy of toluene-sulfonate-diacetylene crystals

The near-infrared (NIR) absorption of toluene-sulfonate-diacetylene crystals (PTS) has been investigated during thermal polymerization. It is shown by comparative NIR and IR spectroscopy of deuterated and of protonated PTS at various temperatures, that these absorptions are vibronic in nature. They can be assigned unambiguously to distinct parts of the molecule. No low-lying electronic state has been found.     

Das Grenzflächenverhalten von Carboxymethylcellulose an Baumwolle

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