Stability and state of aggregation of aqueous fibrinogen and dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine lipid vesicles

The stability and state of aggregation of aqueous fibrinogen (FB) and dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) vesicles in water or buffer at 25 degrees C were studied with dynamic light scattering (DLS), UV-vis spectroturbidimetry (ST), and cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM). In water, when 1000 ppm (0.10 wt %) DPPC dispersions were prepared with a protocol including extensive sonication, they contained mostly vesicles and were quite clear, transparent, and stable for at least 30 days. FB mixtures with water (0.075 wt %) were quite unstable and biphasic. They formed large aggregates which eventually precipitated. The addition of DPPC vesicles into these unstable FB dispersions reversed FB aggregation and precipitation and produced stable translucent microdispersions. The inferred lipid/protein aggregates were limited in size, with average diameters ranging from 200 to 300 nm. In buffer, DPPC dispersions were also clear and quite stable, with average dispersed particles diameter of ca. 90 nm. FB dissolved in aqueous buffer and formed transparent and stable solutions. Adding salt to an aggregated FB dispersion in water reversed the aggregation. FB aggregated and redissolved in the presence of the citrate and after the citrate was removed. There was no effect of citrate (present in FB initially) in the FB aggregation or redissolution. FB molecules in buffer form dimers or higher aggregates. Their average aggregation number is 2, determined with Rayleigh scattering analysis of turbidity data. The average hydrodynamic diameter of FB solutions from DLS was 30 nm. Mixing a stable FB solution in buffer and a stable DPPC dispersion in buffer produced highly unstable mixtures, in which large aggregates precipitated. These results have implications in understanding the interactions of lipids and proteins in many biological applications and food processing applications.     

Line Profile Measure as a Stopping Criterion in CG-SENSE Algorithm

Conjugate gradient SENSE (CG-SENSE) is a parallel magnetic resonance imaging reconstruction algorithm which solves the inversion problem of SENSE iteratively. One major limitation of CG-SENSE is the appropriate choice of the number of iterations required for good reconstruction results. Fewer iterations result in aliasing artifacts and too many iterations result in an increased noise level. This paper proposes a novel method to define the stopping criterion of CG-SENSE algorithm which is based on the use of correlation measure between the line profiles of the reconstructed images in the current and the previous iterations. The results are compared with Bregman distance-stopping criterion. Artifact power and peak signal-to-noise ratio are used to quantify the quality of the reconstructed images. The results demonstrate that the line profile correlation measure acts as an effective stopping criterion in CG-SENSE.     

以MH2(M=Ti,Zr)为原料反应烧结制备MB2-SiC复相陶瓷

分别以TiH2,ZrH2为原料,结合原位反应与脉冲电流辅助烧结制备了TiB2-SiC及ZrB2-SiC复相陶瓷.研究发现,所制备的复相陶瓷表现出一定的织构化现象,TiB2及ZrB2晶粒在反应烧结过程中其(001)面沿垂直压力和电流方向生长.金属氢化物粉体的粒径大小对复相陶瓷的致密化及微结构有较大影响:粒径越小越有利于陶瓷的致密化和硼化物晶粒的定向生长.由于金属硼化物的定向,复相陶瓷的机械性能表现出各向异性.TiB2-SiC复相陶瓷具有较高的断裂韧性,最高可达7.3 MPa·m1/2,而ZrB2-SiC复相陶瓷具有更高的抗弯强度(937 MPa).     

Global divergence of spatial coalescents

We study several fundamental properties of a class of stochastic processes called spatial Λ-coalescents. In these models, a number of particles perform independent random walks on some underlying graph G. In addition, particles on the same vertex merge randomly according to a given coalescing mechanism. A remarkable property of mean-field coalescent processes is that they may come down from infinity, meaning that, starting with an infinite number of particles, only a finite number remains after any positive amount of time, almost surely. We show here however that, in the spatial setting, on any infinite and bounded-degree graph, the total number of particles will always remain infinite at all times, almost surely. Moreover, if ${G\,=\,\mathbb{Z}^d}$ , and the coalescing mechanism is Kingman’s coalescent, then starting with N particles at the origin, the total number of particles remaining is of order (log* N) ^d at any fixed positive time (where log* is the inverse tower function). At sufficiently large times the total number of particles is of order (log* N) ^d-2, when d?>?2. We provide parallel results in the recurrent case d?=?2. The spatial Beta-coalescents behave similarly, where log log N is replacing log* N.     

Syntheses and characterization of lisinopril-coated gold nanoparticles as highly stable targeted CT contrast agents in cardiovascular diseases

Lisinopril was used as the targeting moiety to prepare gold nanoparticle-based functional CT contrast agents. Pure lisinopril, thioctic acid-lisinopril conjugate, and reduced thioctic acid-lisinopril conjugate were used to obtain GNP-Lis, GNP-TA-Lis, and GNP-RTA-Lis, respectively, via ligand exchange reaction on citrate-coated gold nanoparticles (GNPs). These lisinopril-decorated GNPs were fully characterized, and their chemical stabilities in biological relevant media and in high salt concentration were compared. Their relative stabilities toward lyophilization and against cyanide-induced decomposition were also investigated. Because of their higher stability, GNP-TA-Lis were used to assess the targeting of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) using X-ray computed tomography (CT). The images obtained displayed high contrast in the region of the lungs and heart, clearly indicating the targeting of ACE, whose overexpression is associated with development of cardiac and pulmonary fibrosis. Thus, the new nanoprobes prepared here will serve as very useful tools for the monitoring of cardiovascular pathophysiologies using CT imaging.     

Genotypic Variability Among Soybean Genotypes Under NaCl Stress and Proteome Analysis of Salt-Tolerant Genotype

The present investigation was conducted to evaluate salt tolerance in ten genotypes of soybean (Glycine max L.). Twelve-day-old seedlings, grown hydroponically, were treated with 0, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125 and 150?mM NaCl for 10?days. Growth, lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzyme activities were evaluated. Growth, measured in terms of length, fresh weight and dry weight of plants, was drastically reduced in Pusa-24 while there was little effect of NaCl treatment on Pusa-37 genotype of soybean. High level of lipid peroxidation was observed in Pusa-24 as indicated by increased level of malondialdehyde. Activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase and glutathione reductase were maximum in Pusa-37 where 9-, 1-, 5- and 6-fold increase over control were observed, respectively. The results suggested that Pusa-24 and Pusa-37 are salt-sensitive and salt-tolerant genotype of soybean, respectively, and antioxidant defence system is involved in conferring the sensitiveness and tolerance in these genotypes. Salt-tolerant genotype Pusa-37, was further analysed by 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis to analyse the differential expression of proteins at high salt stress. In the present study, 173 protein spots were identified. Of these, 40 proteins were responsive to salinity in that they were either up- or downregulated. This study could help us in identifying the possible regulatory switches (gene/s) controlling novel proteins of the salt-tolerant genotype of the crop plants and their possible role in defence mechanism.     

On representations distinguished by unitary groups

Let E/F be a quadratic extension of number fields. We study periods and regularized periods of cusp forms and Eisenstein series on $\operatorname {GL}_{n}( \mathbf {A}_{E})$ over a unitary group of a Hermitian form with respect to E/F. We provide factorization for these periods into locally defined functionals, express these factors in terms of suitably defined local periods and characterize global distinction. We also study in detail the analogous local question and analyze the space of invariant linear forms under a unitary group.     

Optimum vibration absorber (tuned mass damper) design for linear damped systems subjected to random loads

Optimum design of dynamic vibration absorbers (DVAs) installed on linear damped systems that are subjected to random loads is studied and closed-form design formulas are provided. Three cases are considered in the optimization process: Minimizing the variance of the displacement, velocity and acceleration of the main mass. Exact optimum design parameters for the velocity case, which to the best knowledge of the author do not exist in the literature, are derived for the first time. Exact solutions are found to be directly applicable for practical use with no simplification needed. For displacement and acceleration cases, a solution for the optimum absorber frequency ratio is obtained as a function of optimum absorber damping ratio. Numerical simulations indicate that optimum absorber damping ratio is not significantly related to the structural damping, especially when the displacement variance is minimized. Therefore, optimum damping ratio derived for undamped systems is proposed for damped systems for the displacement case. When acceleration variance is minimized, however, the optimum damping ratio derived for undamped systems is found not as accurate for damped systems. Therefore, a more accurate approximate expression is derived. Numerical comparisons with published approximate expressions at the same level of complexity indicated that proposed design formula yield more accurate estimates. Another important finding of the paper is that for specific applications where all of the response parameters are desired to be minimized simultaneously, DVAs designed per velocity criteria provide the best overall performance with the least complexity in the design equations.     

Vibrational behavior of a soundbox in an atmosphere with a variable speed of sound

This paper describes a semi-quantitative method, suitable for a student laboratory exercise that shows that the acoustic properties of the soundbox of a musical instrument depend on the sound speed of the atmosphere surrounding and filling the instrument. A gas tent was constructed and used to enclose instruments in helium, carbon dioxide and mixtures thereof, allowing the sound speed to be varied from 250 to 1000 m/s. Soundboard admittance data were taken using a guitar and a violin as examples. The data, expressed as contour plots, show clearly the qualitative relationship between air and wood modes, and the guitar data are compared with a simple mechanical model. Experimental details of the construction and operation of gas tent are given, with attention paid to safety issues.     

CO2 Injection into Saline Carbonate Aquifer Formations II: Comparison of Numerical Simulations to Experiments

Sequestration of carbon dioxide in geological formations is an alternative way of managing extra carbon. Although there are a number of mathematical modeling studies related to this subject, experimental studies are limited and most studies focus on injection into sandstone reservoirs as opposed to carbonate ones. This study describes a fully coupled geochemical compositional equation-of-state compositional simulator (STARS) for the simulation of CO₂ storage in saline aquifers. STARS models physical phenomena including (1) thermodynamics of sub- and supercritical CO₂, and PVT properties of mixtures of CO₂ with other fluids, including (saline) water; (2) fluid mechanics of single and multiphase flow when CO₂ is injected into aquifers; (3) coupled hydrochemical effects due to interactions between CO₂, reservoir fluids, and primary mineral assemblages; and (4) coupled hydromechanical effects, such as porosity and permeability change due to the aforementioned blocking of pores by carbonate particles and increased fluid pressures from CO₂ injection. Matching computerized tomography monitored laboratory experiments showed the uses of the simulation model. In the simulations dissolution and deposition of calcite as well as adsorption of CO₂ that showed the migration of CO₂ and the dissociation of CO₂ into HCO₃ and its subsequent conversion into carbonate minerals were considered. It was observed that solubility and hydrodynamic storage of CO₂ is larger compared to mineral trapping.