ALTERATIONS OF PROTEOGLYCANS IN ULTRAVIOLET-IRRADIATED SKIN

Abstract— The effect of UVB exposure on the distribution and synthesis of dermal proteoglycans was measured in the skin of hairless mice. Two groups of mice were included: one was irradiated for 10 weeks; the other was kept as control. After intraperitoneal injection of sodium ³⁵S-sulfate, punch biopsies were taken for histology and proteoglycans were extracted from the remaining skin with 4 M guanidinium chloride, containing 3–[(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio]-1-propanesulfonate (0.5%, weight per volume). Following proteolytic digestion, the glycosaminoglycan constituents were isolated and analyzed by quantitative cellulose acetate electrophoresis and enzymatic digestibility.
Under the influence of UVB radiation, newly synthesized proteoglycans measured by ³⁵SO₄ uptake increased as much as 60%. In addition, the irradiated skin had a higher average content of proteoglycan than had control skin (4981 μg vs 4134 μg/g dry weight). This could be ascribed to an increase in heparin (1400 vs 533 μ g/g dry weight) and heparan sulfate (472 vs 367 μg/g dry weight), whereas no change in the concentration of hyaluronic acid (1243 vs 1372 μg/g dry weight) and dermatan sulfate (1866 vs 1863 μg/g dry weight) was observed. The irradiated animals also exhibited a marked increase in the synthesis of heparan sulfate and heparin (62% and 71%, respectively). These results demonstrate that chronic doses of UVB altered proteoglycan metabolism through both quantitative and qualitative changes.     

Automated pre-column derivatisation HPLC

Summary An automated pre-column derivatisation system is presented. As an example of its application we have chosen ion-pair partition chromatography. Ion-pairs of a mixture of some alkaloids (apoatropine, hyoscyamine, scopolamine and ergotamine) were formed with picric acid in an aqueous phase, extracted into chloroform and injectedin-situ onto a silica gel column for separation within 15 minutes.This paper shows the possibility of making an automated pre-column derivatisation system with a relative standard deviation of less than 3% per injection (n=6). The linearity check was made for hyoscyamine and ergotamine solutions in the concentration range of 80 to 200 ng respectively 240 to 720 ng per injection and found to be linear. The information obtained is of general validity and could generate more studies in this area.     

Sample preparation for HPLC by automatic tablet extraction

Summary An automatic device combining high-performance liquid chromatography and continuous flow analysis (HPLC/CFA) has been developed for the individual analysis of pharmaceutical tablets. With this fully automated system up to 60 tablets can be analysed in sequence. Between each sequence of tablets up to 3 reference solutions can also be automatically analysed. The reproducibility is better than 2% for all compounds, by repetitive injections of a mixture of drugs.     

Optimization of parameters for deposition of ZnO films by sol gel using Taguchi method

ABSTRACT

ZnO transparent conductive films were deposited on glass substrates by sol-gel spin coating method. Taguchi method was used to find the optimal deposition parameters, three influential parameters were selected in this experiment, Concentration of zinc (II) ions. Zn²⁺, annealing temperature T_r and pre-annealing temperature T_P. By employing the analysis of variance, we found that the annealing temperature T_r and the precursor Zn²⁺ are the most influencing parameters on the properties of ZnO films. Under the optimized deposition conditions, the ZnO films showed high crystal quality, and high transmittance of 90% in the visible region.     

Lattice Boltzmann Solver for Multiphase Flows: Application to High Weber and Reynolds Numbers

The lattice Boltzmann method, now widely used for a variety of applications, has also been extended to model multiphase flows through different formulations. While already applied to many different configurations in low Weber and Reynolds number regimes, applications to higher Weber/Reynolds numbers or larger density/viscosity ratios are still the topic of active research. In this study, through a combination of a decoupled phase-field formulation—the conservative Allen–Cahn equation—and a cumulant-based collision operator for a low-Mach pressure-based flow solver, we present an algorithm that can be used for higher Reynolds/Weber numbers. The algorithm was validated through a variety of test cases, starting with the Rayleigh–Taylor instability in both 2D and 3D, followed by the impact of a droplet on a liquid sheet. In all simulations, the solver correctly captured the flow dynamics andmatched reference results very well. As the final test case, the solver was used to model droplet splashing on a thin liquid sheet in 3D with a density ratio of 1000 and kinematic viscosity ratio of 15, matching the water/air system at We = 8000 and Re = 1000. Results showed that the solver correctly captured the fingering instabilities at the crown rim and their subsequent breakup, in agreement with experimental and numerical observations reported in the literature.     

Characteristics of CuInS2 thin films synthesizes by chemical spray pyrolysis

Optical and Quantum Electronics - In this paper, a variable-coefficient generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation, which can be used to describe the nonlinear phenomena in the optical fiber,...     

Optoelectronics properties of TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>:Cu thin films obtained by sol gel method

In this research, Cu-doped TiO₂ thin films have been successfully deposited onto a glass substrate by Sol–gel technique using dip coating method. The films were annealed at different annealing temperatures (400–500 °C) for 1 h. The structural, optical and electrical properties of the films were investigated and compared using X-ray Diffraction, UV–visible spectrophotometer and 4-point probe method. Optical analysis by mean transmittance T(λ) and absorption A(λ) measurements in the wavelength range between 300 to 800 nm allow us to determine the indirect band gap energy. DRX analysis of our thin films of TiO₂:Cu shows that the intensities of the line characteristic of anatase phase increasing in function of the temperature.     

Structural, optical and electrical properties of ZnO:Al thin films for optoelectronic applications

Undoped and aluminum-doped ZnO thin films are prepared by the sol–gel spin-coating process. Zinc acetate dihydrate, ethanol and mono-ethanolamine are used as precursor, solvent and stabilizer, respectively. The atomic percentage of dopant in solution were [Al/Zn] = 1 %, 2 % and 3 %. The effect of Al doping on the optical and electrical properties of ZnO films was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Four-Point probe technique and UV–visible spectrophotometery. The results from the X-ray diffraction show that the pure ZnO thin films had a polycrystalline structure of the hexagonal Wurtzite Type. A minimum resistivity of $3.3 \times 10^{-3} \Omega \cdot \mathrm{cm}$ was obtained for the film doped with 2 mol % Al. Optical transmissions reveal a good transmittance within the visible wavelength spectrum region for all of the films. The value of the band gap is enhanced from 3.21 eV (undoped ZnO) to 3.273 eV (Al/Zn = 3 %), the increase in the band gap can be explained by the Burstein–Moss effect.