A smooth pseudoconvex domain without pseudoconvex exhaustion

A pseudoconvex demain with real —analytic smooth boundary on a complex manifold is constructed which cannot be exhausted by pseudoconvex domains.     

Sub- and super-equivalence method of isotope dilution analysis. Determination of cesium

Cesium content of radioactive solutions was determined by sub- and super equivalence isotope dilution analysis /SSE IDA/.     

Pac investigations of In/Sb interfaces

The PAC method was applied to study interface compound formation in thin In/Sb film couples. Above annealing temperatures of 220 K, kept for 10 min, the compound InSb is growing out of the interface. The average thickness of InSb increases with the square root of time at the beginning, indicating a diffusion controlled start of interface compound growth.     

Immobilized chemoattractant peptides mediate adhesion and distinct calcium-dependent cell signaling in human neutrophils

Chemotaxis is the stimulated directional migration of cells in response to chemotactic factors, manifested for instance during leukocyte interaction with chemoattractants in inflammation. The N-formyl-Met-Leu-Phe (fMLF) bacterial peptide family is particularly potent in attracting and activating neutrophilic granulocytes. To accomplish defined circumstances for recruitment and activation of cells, we fabricated semitransparent gold-coated glass coverslips functionalized with chemoattractant fMLF receptor peptide agonist analogues. Peptides based on a common leading four-amino-acid sequence Gly-Gly-Gly-Cys were thus coupled to two potent fMLF receptor agonists, N-formyl-Tyr-Nle-Phe-Leu-Nle-Gly-Gly-Gly-Cys and N-formyl-Met-Leu-Phe-Gly-Gly-Gly-Cys, and a formylated control peptide, N-formyl-Gly-Gly-Gly-Cys. They were anchored via the SH group of Cys either directly to the gold surface or a mixed self-assembled monolayer composed of maleimide- and hydroxyl-terminated oligo(ethylene glycol) alkyldisulfides. The overall peptide immobilization procedure was characterized with ellipsometry, contact angle measurement, and infrared spectroscopy. When exposed to granulocytes, the agonist surface rapidly recruited neutrophils and the cells responded with extensive spreading and intracellular calcium transients within minutes. The reference peptide generated no such activation, and the cells maintained a more spherical morphology, suggesting that we have been able to immobilize chemoattractant receptor agonist peptides with retained bioactivity. This is a crucial step in designing surfaces with specific effects on cellular behavior.     

Granulated catalytic materials based on chitosan and its derivatives

The method of fabrication of palladium-containing materials based on molded granules of chitosan and its imidazolyl and pyridyl derivatives crosslinked with glutaric aldehyde has been suggested. It has been established by example of the reaction of reduction of p-nitrophenol by sodium boron hydride that the reaction rate increases along with the decrease in the degree of swelling of catalyst support granules. It has been demonstrated using the methods of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, raster electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy that in granules palladium is concentrated in the surface layer with a thickness of 8–10 μm, whereas the profile of the palladium distribution in strongly swelling granules is diffused, and its subsurface content is lower, which results, aside from a dramatic granule collapse, in the decrease in the catalytic activity of such Pd⁰-containing materials.     

The Levi problem for Riemann domains over Stein spaces with isolated singularities

We consider the following question: Let \({p:Y \rightarrow X}\) be an unbranched Riemann domain and assume that X is a Stein space and p is a Stein morphism. Does it follow that Y is Stein ? We show that the answer is affirmative if X has isolated singularities. This generalizes a result of Andreotti and Narasimhan.     

Extent and mechanism of metal ion incorporation into precipitated ferrites

The ability of many noniron metals to be incorporated into the structure of ferrites is being utilized in numerous industrial and environmental applications. The incorporation of some of these metals during Fe(II) oxidation-induced precipitation at moderate temperatures (80-100°C) appears to be limited, for reasons not fully understood, and to extents not always agreed (e.g., Ni(2+), Cr(3+)). In this paper, the incorporation maxima of six metals into the structure of precipitated ferrites (in terms of x in Me(x)Fe(3-)(x)O(4), Me represents a noniron metal) were concluded to be 1.0, 1.0, 0.78, 0.49, 0.35, and 0.0 for Zn(2+), Co(2+), Ni(2+), Al(3+), Cd(2+) and Cr(3+), respectively. With the exception of the much larger Cd(2+), these values were associated with kinetic considerations controlled by the H(2)O exchange rate between the hydration shells surrounding the dissolved metal ion.     

Multiplexed quantification of proteins adsorbed to surface-modified and non-modified microdialysis membranes

A simple and straightforward method for discovery and quantification of proteins adsorbed onto delicate and sensitive membrane surfaces is presented. The adsorbed proteins were enzymatically cleaved while still adsorbed onto the membranes using an on-surface enzymatic digestion (oSED). This was followed by isobaric tagging, nanoliquid chromatography, and tandem mass spectrometry. Protein adsorption on tri-block copolymer Poloxamer 407 surface-modified microdialysis (MD) membranes were compared with protein adsorption on unmodified MD membranes. Ventricular cerebrospinal fluid (vCSF) kept at 37 °C was used as sample matrix. In total, 19 proteins were quantified in two biological replicates. The surface-modified membranes adsorbed 33% less proteins than control membranes and the most abundant proteins were subunits of hemoglobin and clusterin. The adsorption of clusterin on the modified membranes was on average 36% compared to control membranes. The most common protein in vCSF, Albumin, was not identified adsorbed to the surface at all. It was also experimentally verified that oSED, in conjunction with tandem mass spectrometry can be used to quantify femtomole amounts of proteins adsorbed on limited and delicate surfaces, such as MD membranes. The method has great potential and can be used to study much more complex protein adsorption systems than previously reported.