Differential inhibition of postnatal brain,spinal cord and body growth by a growth hormone antagonist

Background  

Growth hormone (GH) plays an incompletely understood role in the development of the central nervous system (CNS). In this study, we use transgenic mice expressing a growth hormone antagonist (GHA) to explore the role of GH in regulating postnatal brain, spinal cord and body growth into adulthood. The GHA transgene encodes a protein that inhibits the binding of GH to its receptor, specifically antagonizing the trophic effects of endogenous GH.     

Novel microscopic mechanism of intermixing during growth on soft metallic substrates

Generic computer simulations using empiric interatomic potentials suggest a new, collective mechanism that could be responsible for mixing at heteroepitaxial interfaces. Even if single adsorbate atoms diffuse by hopping on the substrate surface and do not mix at the terraces, two-dimensional islands formed by nucleation may become unstable above a certain critical size and explode upwards forming clusters of several atomic layers. This process is accompanied by strong distortions of the underlying atomic layers, and on soft materials it can result in surface etching and incorporation of substrate atoms into the islands.     

Metallic Li in carbonaceous nanotubes grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition from a metalorganic precursor

Metallic Li in carbonaceous nanostructures was obtained in high concentration (as much as 33.4%) through metalorganic chemical vapor deposition involving certain lithium–aminoalkyl moieties, which are formed in situ , by decomposition of a precursor containing both cobalt and lithium. The bimetallic complex containing both lithium and cobalt was characterized by IR spectroscopy, mass spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, elemental analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements performed on the as‐grown films demonstrate that lithium can be stable in metallic form in such a film. Results of X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis of the as‐grown films are presented as direct evidence of the formation and stabilization of metallic lithium in carbon nanotubes. Carbon nanotubes, encapsulating metallic lithium, can potentially act as a miniaturized nanobattery. Such a battery would be potentially useful in the next generation of communication and remote sensing devices, where a pulse of current is required for their operation. In addition, with metallic lithium, having an effective nuclear magnetic moment, such materials can be envisioned to show potential applications in devices based on nuclear magnetic resonances. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Intermediate coupling model description of55Fe and57Fe

The properties of the negative parity states of⁵⁵Fe and⁵⁷Fe are investigated in the framework of the intermediate coupling model. In the model, a neutron or a quasineutron is coupled to anharmonic vibrations of the core. Anharmonicities of the vibrations are estimated through the observed properties of the core. Energy levels, spectroscopic factors and electromagnetic properties have been calculated. The results of the present calculations are also compared with available experimental results and other theoretical results. The model reasonably accounts for many of the properties of the low-lying states.     

Multiple ionization of argon in coincidence with projectile ions in 60–120 MeV Si q+-Ar collisions

A projectile ion-recoil ion coincidence technique has been employed to study the multiple ionization and the charge transfer processes in collisions of 60–120 MeV Si ^q+ (q = 4−14) ions with neutral argon atoms. The relative contribution of different ionization channels, namely; direct ionization, electron capture and electron loss leading to the production of slow moving multiply charged argon recoil ions have been investigated. The data reported on the present collision system result from a direct measurement in the considered impact energy for the first time. The total ionization cross-sections for the recoil ions are shown to scale as q ^1.7/E _p ^0.5 , where E _p is the energy in MeV of the projectile and q its charge state. The recoil fractions for the cases of total- and direct ionizations are found to decrease with increasing recoil charge state j. The total ionization fractions of the recoils are seen to depend on q and to show the presence of a ‘shell-effect’ of the target. Further, the fractions are found to vary as 1/j ² upto j = 8+. The average recoil charge state 〈j〉 increases slowly with q and with the number of lost or captured electrons from or into the projectile respectively. The projectile charge changing cross-sections σ _qq′ are found to decrease with increasing q for loss ionization and to increase with q for direct-and capture ionization processes respectively. The physics behind various scaling rules that are found to follow our data for different ionization processes is reviewed and discussed.     

Transfer measurements for the Ti+Ni systems at near barrier energies

Large enhancements have been observed in the sub-barrier fusion cross sections for Ti+Ni systems in our previous studies. Coupled channel calculations incorporating couplings to 2⁺ and 3⁻ states failed to explain these enhancements completely. A possibilty of transfer channels contributing to the residual enhancements had been suggested. In order to investigate the role of relevant transfer channels, measurements of one- and two-nucleon transfer were carried out for ^46,48Ti+⁶¹Ni systems. The present paper gives the results of these studies.     

Tailoring the porous hierarchy of titanium phosphates

First hierarchical titanium phosphate (TiPO) materials with multiple porosities of different lengths (meso-macroporous and meso-macro-macroporous) were synthesized by the self-formation process. The further tuning of the porous hierarchy by using the poly(ethylene oxide) surfactant technique was demonstrated. The macroporous structure (50-160 nm in size) of TiPO with mesoporous walls could be self-formed in the absence of any templatable agents, including surfactant molecules. On the basis of spontaneous structurization, the addition of a small quantity of nonionic poly(ethylene oxide) surfactant (e.g., 5%) led to an improvement in macroporosity in abundance and in regularity with a slight enlargement in macropore sizes to 80-250 nm. Interestingly, a secondary, larger macropore system with parallel channels 500-1000 nm in size was generated when the synthesis was performed with moderately increasing the content of surfactant (10%), giving rise to an unprecedented trimodal meso-macro-macroporous structure. A uniform three-dimensional co-continuous macroporous structure with accessible wormhole-like mesoporous walls was synthesized by using the higher content of surfactants. This is a direct demonstration of tailoring the porous hierarchy of different lengths integrated in one solid body by fine-tuning the self-formation process and the participation of surfactant. The synthesized hierarchical titanium phosphates possess interesting optical and acidic properties, which should be significant for large application potential from catalysis and separation to electrochromic devices, fuel cells, and bioactive materials.     

Completely random nanoporous Cu4O3–CuO–C composite thin films for potential application as multiple channel photonic band gap based filter in the telecommunication wavelengths

In 2003, Babin et al. theoretically predicted (J. Appl. Phys. 94:4244, 2003) that fabrication of organic–inorganic hybrid materials would probably be required to implement structures with multiple photonic band gaps. In tune with their prediction, we report synthesis of such an inorganic–organic nanocomposite, comprising Cu₄O₃–CuO–C thin films that experimentally exhibit the highest (of any known material) number (as many as eleven) of photonic band gaps in the near infrared. On contrary to the report by Wang et al. (Appl. Phys. Lett. 84:1629, 2004) that photonic crystals with multiple stop gaps require highly correlated structural arrangement such as multilayers of variable thicknesses, we demonstrate experimental realization of multiple stop gaps in completely randomized structures comprising inorganic oxide nanocrystals (Cu₄O₃ and CuO) randomly embedded in a randomly porous carbonaceous matrix. We report one step synthesis of such nanostructured films through the metalorganic chemical vapor deposition technique using a single source metalorganic precursor, Cu₄(deaH)(dea)(oAc)₅???(CH₃)₂CO. The films displaying multiple (4/9/11) photonic band gaps with equal transmission losses in the infrared are promising materials to find applications as multiple channel photonic band gap based filter for WDM technology.