PEROXIDASE INDUCED CHEMILUMINESCENCE IN THE OXIDATION OF PYROGALLOL AND PURPUROGALLIN. INFLUENCE OF AZIDE

Abstract— The chemiluminescence (CL) emitted during the peroxidase catalyzed oxidation of purpurogallin and pyrogallol depends on one and two molecules of enzyme, respectively. Using microperoxidase, CL with purpurogallin also depends on two molecules of enzyme (above 0.3 μ M enzyme). Sodium azide inhibits the CL emitted by all reactions depending on two molecules of enzyme but enhances the CL of reactions depending on one molecule of peroxidase (purpurogallin + 0.75 n M horseradish peroxidase). The formation of functional enzyme dimols during the oxidative process is discussed.     

Intranasal irradiation with the xenon chloride ultraviolet B laser improves allergic rhinitis

We earlier reported that the 308 nm xenon chloride (XeCl) ultraviolet B (UVB) laser is highly effective for the treatment of inflammatory skin diseases. Since UVB irradiation has been shown to exert both local and systemic immunosuppression, we investigated the clinical efficacy of UVB irradiation in allergic rhinitis. In an open study, groups of patients with severe allergic rhinitis received intranasal irradiation with a 308 nm XeCl UVB excimer laser for two weeks. In the low-dose group (n=10), treatment was given twice weekly, starting with 0.25x the individual minimal erythema dose (MED), whereas patients in the medium-dose group (n=8) were treated four times weekly, starting with 0.4x MED. In each group, the dosage was gradually increased. Evaluation was based on the symptom scores. The effect of the XeCl laser on the skin prick test reaction was also studied. In the low-dose group, seven patients completed the study, and there was no improvement in the nasal symptoms. In the medium-dose group, the XeCl UVB irradiation significantly inhibited the rhinorrhoea, the sneezing, the nasal obstruction and the total nasal score (p<0.05). The XeCl UVB excimer laser also inhibited the allergen-induced skin prick test in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that the XeCl UVB excimer laser might serve as a new therapeutic tool in the treatment of allergic rhinitis.     

"Learn on the fly": a hybrid classical and quantum-mechanical molecular dynamics simulation

We describe and test a novel molecular dynamics method which combines quantum-mechanical embedding and classical force model optimization into a unified scheme free of the boundary region, and the transferability problems which these techniques, taken separately, involve. The scheme is based on the idea of augmenting a unique, simple parametrized force model by incorporating in it, at run time, the quantum-mechanical information necessary to ensure accurate trajectories. The scheme is tested on a number of silicon systems composed of up to approximately 200 000 atoms.     

Synthesis and characterization of hyperbranched mesoporous silica SBA-15

Branched mesoporous silica SBA-15 materials have been prepared in a simple process using non-ionic surfactant in acidic conditions in the presence of metal ions.     

Spatiotemporal stochastic resonance and its consequences in neural model systems

The realization of spatiotemporal stochastic resonance is studied in a two-dimensional FitzHugh-Nagumo system, and in a one-dimensional system of integrate-and-fire neurons. We show that spatiotemporal stochastic resonance occurs in these neural model systems, independent of the method of modeling. Moreover, the ways of realization are analogous in the two model systems. The biological implications and open questions are discussed. (c) 2001 American Institute of Physics.     

A fast algorithm for solving a linear feasibility problem with application to Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy

The goal of Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) is to deliver sufficient doses to tumors to kill them, but without causing irreparable damage to critical organs. This requirement can be formulated as a linear feasibility problem. The sequential (i.e., iteratively treating the constraints one after another in a cyclic fashion) algorithm ART3 is known to find a solution to such problems in a finite number of steps, provided that the feasible region is full dimensional. We present a faster algorithm called ART3+. The idea of ART3+ is to avoid unnecessary checks on constraints that are likely to be satisfied. The superior performance of the new algorithm is demonstrated by mathematical experiments inspired by the IMRT application.     

The Bogoliubov inner product in quantum statistics

A natural Riemannian geometry is defined on the state space of a finite quantum system by means of the Bogoliubov scalar product which is infinitesimally induced by the (nonsymmetric) relative entropy functional. The basic geometrical quantities, including sectional curvatures, are computed for a two-level quantum system. It is found that the real density matrices form a totally geodesic submanifold and the von Neumann entropy is a monotone function of the scalar curvature. Furthermore, we establish information inequalities extending the Cramér-Rao inequality of classical statistics. These are based on a very general new form of the logarithmic derivative.This work was supported by the Hungarian National Foundation for Scientific Research, grant No. 1900. Authors' e-mail addresses are: H1128PET@ella.hu and TOTH@zodiac.rutgers.edu.