DETECTION OF DNA-PSORALEN PHOTOADDUCTS in situ

Abstract— An immunological method, with the use of specific immune serum, has been developed for detection of 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) photoadducts to DNA, formed in situ in cell nuclei, after combined treatment with 8MOP and UV-A irradiation (Zarçbska et al. , 1978). Lymphocytes fixed on slides or in suspension, and cryostat sections of different mammalian tissues, served as antigenic substrate, after treatment with 8-MOP and UV-A in vitro. Specific fluorescence in these substrates was detected in the nuclei after treatment with 30 ˜ 140 kJ/m² UV-A in the presence of 0.1-0.3 μg/cm² 8-MOP. PHA-stimulated-lymphocytes appeared to be the most sensitive substrate.
However, hairless mice treated with high doses of UV-A in vivo , 70 ˜ 360 kJ/m² did not reveal a specific fluorescence of epidermal nuclei, unless a high local concentration of 8-MOP was attained.
The apparent discrepancy in the level of photoadduct detection between the in vitro and in vivo treated specimens was explained by the low number of DNA-8-MOP-photoadducts formed in vivo under these experimental conditions. The relevance of these findings to the role of DNA-8-MOP-photoadducts formed during PUVA photochemotherapy is discussed.     

Milling time and BPR dependence on permeability and losses of Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 synthesized via mechanical alloying process

Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ has been synthesized using mechanical alloying method with two variables (milling time and ball-to-powder weight ratio (BPR)) were varied in order to study its effect on the magnetic properties of the material. The effects of these two variables were studied using XRD, SEM, TEM and later by impedance analyzer with the frequency range from 1 MHz to 1.8 GHz. The results obtained however show that there are no significant trends to relate the milling time and BPR with the permeability and losses of the material studied. After being sintered at 1150 °C, all the effects of alloying process seem to diminish.     

ON QUOTIENTS OF BRAID GROUPS

ABSTRACT.

Let G be the group ?[t, t ^?1] x ?. By studying the action of the braid group B_n on the set Gⁿ , we obtain representations of B_n into a wreath product of the symmetric group and the general linear group over ?[t, t ^?1]. This in particular recovers the Burau representation of the braid group. Furthermore, some quotients of the braid group are obtained by using the representations found.     

Effects of polyvinylpyrrolidone on structural and optical properties of willemite semiconductor nanoparticles by polymer thermal treatment method

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Willemite is an inorganic semiconductor material used for optoelectronic applications. The present study purposes a new polymer thermal treatment...     

More efficient Brownian dynamics algorithms

We examine the relative efficiencies of three- algorithms for performing Brownian Dynamics simulations without many-body hydrodynamics. We compare the conventional Brownian Dynamics algorithm of Ermak (CBD), Smart Monte Carlo (SMC) which incorporates Boltzmann sampling into essentially a CBD procedure, and the Stochastic Runge Kutta (SRK) method. We show, using the repulsive potential φ(r) = ε(σ/r) ⁿ , where n = 36 and 72, that the SRK algorithm gives the most accurate short-time dynamics for the mean-square displacements. The SRK algorithm static and dynamical properties converge better with a reducing time step to the exact values, than those generated by the CBD algorithm; giving efficiency gains typically of a factor of 3–4. Both CBD and SMC have the incorrect sign for the first correction term to the mean square displacement in a time step, whereas the SRK algorithm gives essentially the exact solution to order Δt ², where Δt is the simulation time step. In fact, these correction terms are almost equal and opposite in sign. Expressions for these terms were derived in terms of the average interaction energy per particle. The force, shear and bulk stress autocorrelation functions were calculated. The average energy per particle and time correlation functions at short time have values in excess of the exact values, while the corresponding quantities for SRK are below this. This difference in behaviour can be traced back to the extent of compliance of the particle trajectories with the exact expansion of the Smoluchowski equation. The accuracy, at a given value of the time step, of the stochastic algorithms can significantly depend on the form of the interaction potential between particles. It is also demonstrated that the long time limits of various correlation functions are fairly insensitive to a particular scheme (SRK or CBD) used in the simulations. All the correlation functions have a stretched exponential region at intermediate to long times, and the values of the exponents on density and force law steepness have been determined.     

Interactions between photodegradation components

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The interactions of p-cresol photocatalytic degradation components were studied by response surface methodology. The study was designed by central composite design using the irradiation time, pH, the amount of photocatalyst and the p-cresol concentration as variables. The design was performed to obtain photodegradation % as actual responses. The actual responses were fitted with linear, two factor interactions, cubic and [left-to-right mark] quadratic model to select an appropriate model. The selected model was validated by analysis of variance which provided evidences such as high F-value (845.09), very low P-value (<.0.0001), non-significant lack of fit, the coefficient of R-squared (R2 = 0.999), adjusted R-squared (Radj2 = 0.998), predicted R-squared (Rpred2 = 0.994) and the adequate precision (95.94). RESULTS: From the validated model demonstrated that the component had interaction with irradiation time under 180 min of the time while the interaction with pH was above pH 9. Moreover, photocatalyst and p-cresol had interaction at minimal amount of photocatalyst (< 0.8 g/L) and 100 mg/L p-cresol. CONCLUSION: These variables are interdependent and should be simultaneously considered during the photodegradation process, which is one of the advantages of the response surface methodology over the traditional laboratory method.     

Characterization of partially transesterified poly(beta-hydroxyalkanoate)s using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFMS) was used for the characterization of a partially transesterified poly(beta-hydroxyalkanoate), PHA, polymer produced by the bacterial strain Alcaligenes eutrophus using saponified vegetable oils as the sole carbon sources. The transesterification was carried out separately under acidic and basic conditions to obtain PHA oligomers weighing less than 10 kDa. The intact oligomers were detected in their cationized [M + Na](+) and [M + K](+) forms by MALDI-TOFMS. A composition analysis, using the MALDI-TOF spectra, indicate that the oligomers obtained via acid catalysis were terminated with a methyl 3-hydroxybutyrate end group, and those obtained by base catalysis had a methyl crotonate (olefinic) termination. In addition to HB (hydroxy butyrate), the oligomers were found to contain a small percentage of HV (hydroxy valerate). This was independently confirmed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). In comparison, the analysis of a commercial PHA polymer, transesterified under identical conditions, only showed the presence of HB, i.e. a pure PHB homopolymer. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dependence of magnetic properties and microstructure of mechanically alloyed Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 on soaking time

Possible soaking-time effects on the magnetic and microstructural properties of polycrystalline samples of Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ have been studied. Nanosize powder produced by mechanical alloying was sintered at 800 °C with various soaking times. All samples showed the signature peak of Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ even with one hour of soaking time. The size distributions show a slow growth of microstructural evolution related to density, porosity and also to the magnetic hysteresis loops. Within these distributions it is observed that the formation of multi-domains is not possible and probably there are the regions of superparamagnetic and single-domain grains. From the permeability studies, it is believed that the rise of the magnetic moment on the B sites give rise to the total saturation magnetization with increase of soaking time. The hysteresis loop of one-hour soaking time showed paramagnetic behavior dominating while longer soaking times showed ferromagnetic behavior starting to dominate. The coercivity was observed to increase with soaking time, signaling the increase of the anisotropy fields which was attributed to the shape anisotropy and also to the magnetocrystalline anisotropy. By correlating the morphology, phase analysis, permeability and hysteresis loops results, it is believed that there was an increase in number of crystalline-growth regions which together formed a total mass of mixed superparamagnetic and ferromagnetic grains with the latter starting to dominate the samples.