Comparison of human blood serum DSC profiles in aqueous and PBS buffer solutions

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The results of studies of physiological fluids by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) for the purpose of diagnosis and monitoring of diseases are...     

Blood serum DSC analysis of well-trained men response to CrossFit training and green tea extract supplementation

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been used for the detection of post-exercise changes in blood serum resulting from participation in the CrossFit (CF) training combined with green tea extract (GTE) supplementation. Blood samples from 20 well-trained men were collected at rest, immediately post-exercise and after 1 h of recovery in two trials: first before and second after CF training combined with GTE or placebo administration in the supplemented (S) and control (C) groups, respectively. Selected muscle damage biomarkers have been compared in different phases of the experiment. A significant increase in blood lactate content has been observed post-exercise in both trials in both participants’ groups. The opposite trends have been noted for the C and S groups in creatine kinase (CK) activity changes recorded during the first to the second trial: an increase in CK for the control and a decrease for the supplemented group in all phases of the experiment: pre-exercise, post-exercise and after recovery. In the second trial, all CK values for the S group have been found significantly lower than the corresponding values recorded in the C group. These results suggest a mitigate effect of GTE supplementation on post-training muscle damage. DSC results did not reveal clear effects of training nor GTE supplementation on serum denaturation transition. However, interesting dependences of thermodynamic parameters describing this transition have been observed in different phases of the experiment. Statistically significant negative correlations have been found between post-training VO_2max and post-exercise thermodynamic parameters associated with haptoglobin contribution to serum denaturation transition.     

Living Radical Polymerization of Styrene Derivatives Containing Trialkylmetal Groups

Fourteenth group oganometallic styrene derivatives were synthesised by nitroxide-mediated controlled radical polymerization using di-tert butyl nitroxide (A-T) as initiator. This is the first time that nitroxide-controlled radical polymerization has been successfully adapted for the synthesis of new polystyrenes bearing organometallic species with controlled molecular weights and narrow polydispersities. Monomer reactivity ratios were determined in controlled nitroxide-mediated radical copolymerization between styrene and substituted styrene. All experiments permitted the synthesis of new organometallic polymers that will be used for the development of a polymer capsule for Inertial Confinement Fusion Experiments.     

Combined Poly(alkyl cyanoacrylate)/Cyclodextrin Nanoparticles

The use of nanoparticles is of great interest for oral or parenteral administration. In fact, nanoparticles not only can protect the active ingredient, but they confer on it a large contact surface with biological membranes and a possible improvement in bioavailability. Biodegradability of nanoparticles, which can be considered as a pre-requisite in the case of parenteral administration     

High-spin states in neutron-rich Dy isotopes populated in deep-inelastic reactions

High-spin states in neutron-rich Dy isotopes, populated in deep-inelastic processes produced by the interaction of 234 MeV ³⁷Cl ions with a ¹⁶⁰Gd target, have been studied using the highly sensitive EUROBALL IV gamma-ray detector array. The previously known level schemes for ^{159,160,161,162}Dy have been extended to significantly higher spin ( ? 30?) and the i _13/2 band crossing in ¹⁵⁹Dy has been observed for the first time. The experimental results are discussed within the framework of cranked shell model and projected shell model calculations with particular reference to the observed delayed band crossing in ¹⁶²Dy. Received: 20 October 2000 / Accepted: 16 January 2001     

New excited superdeformed bands in heavy Pb nuclei: Clue for an octupole softness near the N = 118 gap at large deformation

We report the identification of six new superdeformed (SD) bands in ^197,198Pb observed with the EUROBALL IV spectrometer. The results are interpreted in the framework of cranked Hartree-Fock calculations with approximate projection on the particle number by means of the Lipkin-Nogami method. A mixing between quasi-particle excitations and an octupole vibration is suggested in the two SD isotopes. We have estimated the ordering of the neutron valence orbitals and confirm indirectly a N = 118 SD gap. Received: 20 December 2000 / Accepted: 24 January 2001     

Beyond the N = 50 shell closure: High-spin excitations of 87Kr and ground-state spin of 87Br

The ⁸⁷Kr nucleus has been produced as fission fragment in the fusion reaction ¹⁸O + ²⁰⁸Pb at 85MeV bombarding energy and studied with the Euroball IV array. High-spin states of this neutron-rich isotope have been identified for the first time. Its level scheme has been obtained up to 6.3MeV excitation energy and spin I ∼ 23/2ℏ. Its structure is interpreted by analogy with those of the heavier isotones. The proposed configurations involve both proton and neutron excitations from several sub-shells located close to the Fermi levels, particularly νd_5/2, πp_3/2f_5/2 and πg_9/2. Moreover, a revised spin value of 5/2^- for the ⁸⁷Br ground state is proposed.     

On multireference superdirect configuration interaction in third order

The superdirect configuration interaction (Sup-CI ) method has the usual versatility and stability of the CI methods with computational efficiency typical to that of the many-body methods, such as the many-body perturbation theory (MBPT ). The Hamilton operator is projected into a space of a few trial vectors, such as Krylov, Nesbet, or Møller–Plesset correction vectors. In this space, Hamiltonian matrix elements may be directly computed in the many-body fashion, as weighted sums of integral products over orbital indices. The variation-perturbation method based on the first-order wave function is equivalent to the Sup-CI method with a single correction vector of the Møller–Plesset type. Different points of view on the superdirect CI method are discussed and a version in which third-order contributions are computed for a relatively small (10–100) space of reference and correction vectors is tested. Selection of the best “effective first-order spaces” and size-extensivity corrections in Sup-CI are briefly discussed. Møoller–Plesset, Epstein–Nesbet, and other correction vectors are included in the model calculations on the symmetric stretch of bonds in water, acetylene, and the NH₂ molecule. Errors are almost independent of molecular geometry and the method appears to be superior than the multireference second-order perturbation methods. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.