Elongation and fluctuations of semiflexible polymers in a nematic solvent

We directly visualize single polymers with persistence lengths l(p), ranging from 0.05 to 16 microm, dissolved in the nematic phase of rodlike fd virus. Polymers with a sufficiently large persistence length undergo a coil-rod transition at the isotropic-nematic transition of the background solvent. We quantitatively analyze the transverse fluctuations of the semiflexible polymers and show that at long wavelengths they are driven by the fluctuating nematic background. We extract the Odijk deflection length and the elastic constant of the background nematic phase from the data.     

Linear free energy relationships between dissolution rates and molecular modeling energies of rhombohedral carbonates

Bulk and surface energies are calculated for endmembers of the isostructural rhombohedral carbonate mineral family, including Ca, Cd, Co, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, and Zn compositions. The calculations for the bulk agree with the densities, bond distances, bond angles, and lattice enthalpies reported in the literature. The calculated energies also correlate with measured dissolution rates: the lattice energies show a log-linear relationship to the macroscopic dissolution rates at circumneutral pH. Moreover, the energies of ion pairs translated along surface steps are calculated and found to predict experimentally observed microscopic step retreat velocities. Finally, pit formation excess energies decrease with increasing pit size, which is consistent with the nonlinear dissolution kinetics hypothesized for the initial stages of pit formation.     

Electrophoretic collision of a DNA molecule with an insulating post

We study the dynamics of single DNA molecules driven by an electric field into a stationary obstacle. These collisions are broadly classified as "hook" and "roll-off" events. We show that obstacle-induced electric field gradients stretch impacting DNA and thus greatly influence the hooking probability. Consequently, in addition to collision geometry, determination of the hooking probability depends on the Deborah number (De) for 0.5相似文献   

Application of ELISA in determining the fate of tetracyclines in land-applied livestock wastes

The potential use of a class-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in studying the occurrence and fate of tetracyclines in the environment was evaluated. Several manure samples collected from hog lagoons and cattle feedlots were screened for the presence of tetracycline residues using ELISA. The levels varied from less than the detection limit (0.5 parts per billion) to 200 parts per million. The degradation of tetracyclines in soil-applied manure was followed using ELISA to measure the decline in tetracycline concentrations. Low levels of tetracyclines remained detectable in soil for up to 28 days. The ELISA procedure also proved useful in determining the leaching potential of tetracyclines in undisturbed soil columns and in the analysis of total tetracyclines in manure, soil, and water. Based on the cross-reactivity of the antibodies employed, this ELISA method can be an important screening tool for the presence of other tetracycline compounds, such as chlortetracycline and oxytetracycline. The ELISA method also detects the epimers of tetracyclines and the corresponding dehydration by-products, anhydrotetracyclines. Analysis of selected manure extracts by liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry (LC-MS) showed lower concentrations of total tetracyclines compared to the values obtained by ELISA, indicating the presence of other structurally related compounds or transformation products of tetracyclines being detected by ELISA in the samples. Because analysis of manure and soil samples by LC-MS requires extensive clean-up procedures, ELISA provides an alternative method for conducting environmental fate and transport studies of antibiotics.     

Evaluation of the risk of noise-induced hearing loss among unscreened male industrial workers

Variability in background risk and distribution of various risk factors for hearing loss may explain some of the diversity in excess risk of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). This paper examines the impact of various risk factors on excess risk estimates of NIHL using data from the 1968-1972 NIOSH Occupational Noise and Hearing Survey (ONHS). Previous analyses of a subset of these data focused on 1172 highly "screened" workers. In the current analysis, an additional 894 white males (609 noise-exposed and 285 controls), who were excluded for various reasons (i.e., nonoccupational noise exposure, otologic or medical conditions affecting hearing, prior occupational noise exposure) have been added 2066) to assess excess risk of noise-induced material impairment in an unscreened population. Data are analyzed by age, duration of exposure, and sound level (8-h TWA) for four different definitions of noise-induced hearing impairment, defined as the binaural pure-tone average (PTA) hearing threshold level greater than 25 dB for the following frequencies: (a) 1-4 kHz (PTA1234), (b) 1-3 kHz (PTA123), (c) 0.5, 1, and 2 kHz (PTA512), and (d) 3, 4, and 6 kHz (PTA346). Results indicate that populations with higher background risks of hearing loss may show lower excess risks attributable to noise relative to highly screened populations. Estimates of lifetime excess risk of hearing impairment were found to be significantly different between screened and unscreened population for noise levels greater than 90 dBA. Predicted age-related risk of material hearing impairment in the ONHS unscreened population was similar to that predicted from Annex B and C of ANSI S3.44 for ages less than 60 years. Results underscore the importance of understanding differential risk patterns for hearing loss and the use of appropriate reference (control) populations when evaluating risk of noise-induced hearing impairment among contemporary industrial populations.     

First isocyanoazulene and its homoleptic complexes

An efficient synthesis of remarkably stable 6-isocyanoazulene (CN6Az), the first nonbenzenoid organic isocyanide, is described. Its superb pi-accepting potential as a ligand was demonstrated through cyclic voltammetry studies on the binary complexes [Cr(CN6Az)6]0/+. The paramagnetic shift patterns for [Cr(CN6Az)6]+, the only azulenic pi-system studied by paramagnetic NMR, suggest that Cr(dpi) --> CN6Az(ppi*) electron delocalization involves both rings of the azulenyl substituents in [Cr(CN6Az)6]+. This conclusion is supported by density functional theory calculations on the complex [Cr(CN6Az)6][BF4].     

Monitoring manufacturing process yields,purity and stability of structural variants of PEGylated staphylokinase mutant SY161 by quantitative reverse-phase chromatography

Staphylokinase variant SY161 is a recombinant mutant of the Staphylococcus aureus polypeptide staphylokinase (Sak), and is currently in human clinical trials as a thrombolytic agent. The 15 kDa single chain SY161 protein is expressed as a soluble cytoplasmic product in E. coli with a single cysteine inserted near the N-terminus. The protein as extracted from E. coli is a mixture of both monomeric and intermolecularly disulfide crosslinked species. To improve protein purification yields SY161 is sulfitolyzed during the early stages of production, preventing disulfide formation. The protein is later modified during manufacturing to incorporate a single 5 kDa polyethylene glycol group on the single sulfhydryl sidechain. We have developed and qualified a reverse-phase chromatographic method to quantitate SY161 during product manufacturing. We discuss the use of the assay during manufacturing development to monitor fermentation yields, the SY161 PEGylation reaction, and as an in-process manufacturing control assay. The assay has been applied as a product purity and identity release assay and is suitable for use in assessing product structural integrity during stability testing. The assay has a linear range of quantitation for SY161 from at least 0.15 to 16 micro g, and is-in addition capable of detecting and quantitating protein de-PEGylation events and host cell-derived protein contaminants.     

Stray-field imaging of quadrupolar nuclei of half integer spin in solids

A report is presented on the observation of Hahn echoes from the following quadrupolar nuclei of half integer spin (I) in polycrystalline solids in the large static magnetic field gradient (37.5 T/m) which exists in the fringe field of a superconducting solenoid: ⁷Li, ²³Na, ¹¹B, ⁶⁵Cu (I = 3/2); ²⁷Al (I = 5/2); ⁵¹V, ⁵⁹Co (I = 7/2); and ¹¹⁵In (I = 9/2). ²³Na echo-trains from NaCl (with non-selective excitation) and from Na₂SO₄ (with selective excitation) are compared quantitatively for two different RF pulse sequences: 90_x-(τ-90_y-τ-echo-)_n and 90_x-(τ-90_x-τ-echo-)_n. The signals obtained from RF pulses corresponding to non-selective 90 ° pulses were shown to be quantitative, whereas in the selective case smaller signals were obtained since only the central transition contributed. The loss of signal from this cause can be distinguished from small signals resulting from low density of nuclei by use of the second sequence. A ⁷Li image obtained from LiF in a cylindrical glass-vial is shown.     

Convergence of a large time step generalization of Godunov's method for conservation laws

A natural generalization of Godunov's method for Courant numbers larger than 1 is obtained by handling interactions between neighboring Riemann problems linearly, i.e., by allowing waves to pass through one another with no change in strength or speed. This method is well defined for arbitrarily large Courant numbers and can be written in conservation form. It follows that if a sequence of approximations converges to a limit u(x,t) as the mesh is refined, then u is a weak solution to the system of conservation laws. For scalar problems the method is total variation diminishing and every sequence contains a convergent subsequence. It is conjectured that in fact every sequence converges to the (unique) entropy solution provided the correct entropy solution is used for each Riemann problem. If the true Riemann solutions are replaced by approximate Riemann solutions which are consistent with the conservation law, then the above convergence results for general systems continue to hold.